In a recent correspondence with one of the magazines new authors, I made the statement that I got to play at being an archaeologist while seeking benchmarks.  Researching data to get me close to the right places, taking careful measurements, and removing soil layers to expose a long lost object. Obviously not as demanding as the real profession is,  nevertheless it brought back to me one of many ”what do you want to be when you grow up?” childhood dreams.

  I got to thinking; geocaching has given me a taste of several different professions, cryptologist, historian, geologist, astronomer, and several others. Solving puzzles, visits to historical sites, the lessons EarthCaches offer and after dark events to share the heavenly objects that were guides to the explorers of old and the satellites that make our hobby possible. We may have chosen particular caches because we like puzzles or enjoy seeing some marvels of the Earth, they all give us the smiley, "the found it", the successful completion of a task and another tick mark for our stats. It’s all part of the game/sport/hobby that we play.

  Apart from CITO, and the occasional bomb squad training exercise, we do this mostly for ourselves; we use our gpsr’s and laptops, pda’s, special TOTT’s (tool of the trade) for our enjoyment and there is nothing wrong with that. However in any group of people there are those who would like to contribute more to society while enjoying the activities we love to do. Recently many cachers have been made aware of a new program developed by the Geological Society of America and several partners. Called EarthTrek. A global citizen science program. It is simply having geocachers gather data for scientific studies and submitting that data to the researchers. We are being asked to be scientists! To use our gpsr’s, laptops, and pda’s for more than just a smiley. Many cachers are already environmentally conscious and this is another way to personally contribute to the understanding of our world.

     The initial projects include taking measurements of marble gravestones to study acid rain, identifying a particular invasive plant species and recording their growing conditions and a study of the Ruby Throated Hummingbird’s migration and nesting patterns. Detailed instructions, clear guidelines, examples and explanations are given with each project, along with dates of the studies.

    Data collection can go hand in hand with caching as well. Spend just a few more moments in a cemetery taking measurements after locating the micro and enjoy the history just a little bit more. A few evening s ago, my wife and I ran out for an FTF and found a patch of the Garlic Mustard plant no more than 20 feet from the cache. We weren’t prepared to take the measurements and samples but we now know where we will go when we are ready. The next time a muggle asks what we’re doing, we will have a great answer for them too.

    Both of the studies mentioned above are global. Data is being collected worldwide and when it is compiled, the findings will be shared with us. There can also be regional such as the hummingbird study or more localized projects.  I would guess that depending upon the success and participation in the initial projects, more scientists will see this as a viable option to gather data. Then we will have more projects!

   Our rewards in this program are quite similar to the rewards of caching. It gets us out of the house, its fun; there are participation points awarded, (think smileys) and variety of data to be found. It can be family friendly, educational and could quite possibly expose our younger cachers to careers they may never have considered otherwise. And how else could a middle aged man indulge his childhood dreams of being a scientist and making important discoveries while hunting containers in the woods.

 For more information visit http://www.goearthtrek.com/

By catsnfish

A couple of empty-nesters who caught the caching bug not realizing it was incurable. So if we’re found in the woods waltzing with Garmins, lifting lampskirts while tying our shoe or looking for “gum” underneath benches, be sure to stay away... it’s contagious and the only temporary relief can be found in finding bison’s, ammo’s, nano’s, or passing coins and spreading travel bugs!

Publisher's Note: Catsnfish write the periodic column The Adventures of Catsnfish. Subscribe (free) to The Online Geocacher to get an email alert when a new article is published.