Snapshot Wisconsin is a community-based science program led by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR). It utilizes a network of trail cameras — hosted by Wisconsin landowners — to capture images of wildlife across the state. The trail photos are downloaded into a central database where volunteer “citizen scientists” comb through the images and classify them.

The DNR uses the data to monitor wildlife populations and make management decisions. Researchers have used it as the basis for more than 20 scientific papers. Now, with 10 years under its belt, Snapshot Wisconsin has captured over 100 million photos. And it all started with a little help from CALS.

Initial funding for the project came from a NASA grant written by Phil Townsend and Ben Zuckerberg, professors in the forest and wildlife ecology department, and UW Division of Extension Dean Karl Martin, who was the DNR’s director of science services at the time. DNR employees Christine Anhalt Depies PhD’20 and Jennifer Stenglein MS’13, PhD’14, both CALS grads, were also instrumental in getting the project up and running. (See Candid Camera, Grow, summer 2017.)

Snapshot Wisconsin is set to continue with expanded datacapturing capabilities thanks to a new, three-year NASA grant.