@article{collazo_diez_2025, title={Abundance, occupancy and habitat data recordings for Coqui Llaneros near Caño Tiburones; Arrecibo, Puerto Rico}, DOI={10.5066/p13xjn4z}, abstractNote={The Coquí Llanero (Eleutherodactylus juanariveroi) is one of twelve remaining species of Eleutherodactylus frogs endemic to Puerto Rico. They are known only from three isolated populations separated from each other by ~30 km: Caño Tiburones, Arecibo; Sabana Seca, Toa Baja, and Carolina. These frogs are cultural icons and hold prominent roles in the energy flow of the island’s tropical ecosystems. While high local abundance (>3,000 individuals) and genetic diversity are indicators of resiliency, poor dispersal coupled with historically disturbed altered landscape appears to be a main impediment to recovery. Extensive field surveys in 2024, were used to investigate which component of habitat suitability, framed as alternate microclimatic covariate, vegetation composition, or mix covariate hypotheses, exerted greatest influence on Coquí Llanero occupancy and local colonization and extinction probability, by proxy of movement in Caño Tiburones, Arecibo, Puerto Rico. Additionally, factors influencing population growth and population abundance estimates were also examined as both are necessary elements in assessing population status and potential to persist over time.}, journal={USGS DOI Tool Production Environment}, author={Collazo, Jaime A and Diez, Mary E}, year={2025}, month={Nov} }
 @article{naquin_adams_bailey_brown_diez_mccune_thelen_hunter_cooper_kanipe_2025, title={Not Empty Rain Gauges: Experienced Hobbyists Fulfilled in a Contributory Project}, volume={10}, url={https://doi.org/10.5334/cstp.774}, DOI={10.5334/cstp.774}, abstractNote={For the past two decades, conceptual frameworks from informal science learning have guided the field of citizen science, sometimes leading to assumptions or expectations that participants enter projects without prior knowledge and their engagement produces measurable gains in knowledge or attitude changes. Accordingly, projects with high retention are hypothesized to be those with high learning outcomes. We obtained almost 300 testimonials from the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS) in which participants reflected on their experiences in the project. We used the Dimensions of Engagement framework to conduct a deductive content analysis to identify the affective, cognitive, behavioral, motivational, and social aspects of engaging in CoCoRaHS. We found that many participants were lifelong learners, with 74% of testimonials mentioning a lifelong interest in weather, and 46% mentioning pre-existing knowledge and experiences with weather before joining CoCoRaHS. Given their prior interest, knowledge, and experience, participants mentioned multiple motivations for engaging in CoCoRaHS, such as interest (74%), weather (68%), enjoyment (61%), and contributing to forecasts (54%), with many specifically said CoCoRaHS gave them a sense of purpose to their weather-based hobby. Approximately 21% of participants used CoCoRaHS data to make decisions, particularly farmers and gardeners. Slightly less than 20% specified gaining new knowledge or skills. These findings challenge the common, deficit-based assumption in previous citizen science research that learning is the result of participation. For hobby-based citizen science projects, recreation frameworks such as serious leisure might produce insights overlooked with informal science learning frameworks.}, number={1}, journal={Citizen Science Theory and Practice}, author={Naquin, Kurt and Adams, Dayvion R. and Bailey, Marcus M. and Brown, Lacey and Diez, Mary and McCune, Ryan and Thelen, Thomas and Hunter, Danielle Lin and Cooper, Caren B. and Kanipe, John}, year={2025}, month={Apr} }