AUBURN — According to the Stanton Bird Club, there are numerous opportunities in Maine for ordinary citizens to observe the wildlife in their area and report information to an agency. This practice of “citizen science” is easy, fun and very helpful to wildlife biologists, conservation scientists and policy makers.

On Monday, Jan. 9, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Auburn Public Library on Spring Street, the club will host a panel discussion among three agencies offering opportunities to get involved in wildlife watching in the Androscoggin County area.

Speaking that night will be Susan Gallo from the Maine Audubon Society, Roberta Hill from the Maine Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program and a trained volunteer with the Signs of the Seasons program of the University of Maine Cooperative Extension.

Gallo will talk about Wildlife Road Watch where volunteers record sightings of wildlife crossing the road; Important Bird Areas for people willing to travel to remote sites to get bird sightings reported back via e-bird (a national website with a separate Maine portal); and Bat Conservation.

Gallo said, “There’s been a huge crash in bat populations and federal endangered species listing is likely for several Maine bat species.”

Volunteers would locate maternal roosting colonies of bats to do counts of adult and juvenile bats. These are often found in old homes, attics, garages and sheds.

Hill is an aquatic ecologist and environmental educator who has been active in the field of lake water quality protection and community outreach in Maine for the last 16 years.  Hill will focus will focus her presentation on two primary monitoring programs: water quality and invasive plant monitoring. For 10 years she has been a major force in the establishment and development of VLMP’s Center for Invasive Aquatic Plants.

Signs of the Seasons is a fairly new program in Maine that is seeking volunteers to record seasonal changes for elements as simple as the forsythia in yards, all the way to the seaweeds along the beaches in the summer. Phenology is the study of seasonal events in the lives of plants and animals. Volunteers are needed to help Maine gather important data to protect the wildlife and plants we enjoy every day.

Everyone is invited to attend this free presentation, explore the possibilities and sign up to be a citizen scientist.