Dan Luccock isn’t a full-time scientist but he plays one on the weekends. With a background in biology, this IT director from Centennial spends his free time volunteering for the Front Range Pika Project, a program that invites citizen scientists to play a key role in climate research and wildlife conservation by monitoring pika sightings. 

The American pika is a small relative of rabbits that inhabits mountainous areas and is sensitive to climate. The species’ disappearance from some areas suggests they may be succumbing to climate change. It is only fitting that an animal known for its high-pitched alarm call may act as the canary in the coal mine alerting scientists and the public of the imminent effects of climate change.

“Pikas have fascinated me ever since I discovered them in an Audubon Society field guide as a kid,” Luccock said. “I feel that contributing to this and other pika research will increase understanding about the current state of pikas in Colorado and will provide insight into the effect of climate change on this important species.”

Several researchers at CU-Boulder are studying disruptions in the pikas’ distribution, and they have partnered with the Denver Zoo, the Center for Native Ecosystems, Colorado State University’s Natural Resources Ecology Laboratory, and the Colorado Division of Wildlife to offer students and other citizens a chance to contribute to pika research. 

“My students and I work with these partners to develop data collection protocols, volunteer training manuals, and an interactive website that helps us all share the data,” said Chris Ray, CU-Boulder ecology and evolutionary biology research associate. 

Now in its second field season, the project empowers volunteers such as Luccock to collect data and contribute to sound science. Data collected by volunteers are made available through an interactive website, providing informative maps and supporting data that are useful for researchers, land managers, and the general public.

“Volunteers visit planned locations and take data on whether pikas are there and what the habitat is like,” Ray said. “We provide a protocol and training to help them know what to look for. We also explain what the data are for, which helps volunteers understand the scientific process.”

The project improves the amount and quality of data available for pika research on the Front Range, and researchers coordinate local research and outreach activities with similar programs throughout the pikas’ range, such as the sister program in the San Juan Mountains called PikaNet.

 “By developing web-based tools and citizen-science protocols for collecting data in this Front Range project, we’re supporting citizen involvement and research not only locally but throughout the range of the American pika,” Ray said. “This supports our ultimate scientific goal, which is to provide our research group and other researchers with the data necessary to understand current or potential changes in the distribution and habitats of the pika throughout its range.”

For more information visit the Front Range Pika Project page. To learn more about climate change in Colorado visit LearnMoreAboutClimate.colorado.edu.