As part of the 2025 Flagstaff Festival of Science, Mostafa and Darby led a hands-on PhenoCam workshop for the public. The session introduced participants to the PhenoCam Network, how we use PhenoCam data to study ecosystems, and how to navigate the PhenoCam website. We kicked things off with a simple but fun question: What’s your favorite season? To our surprise, almost everyone said spring—whereas at the 2024 workshop, autumn was the runaway winner! From there, participants were engaged from start to finish, repeatedly and enthusiastically jumping in with questions. These questions included what other metadata the PhenoCam Network provides (lots—including site characteristics such as land cover, climate regime, etc.), how many scientific publications have used PhenoCam data (almost 500), what “Gcc” means (green chromatic coordinate), and what kind of extra information near-infrared imagery could offer compared to standard visible-wavelength imagery (leaves absorb most visible light, but reflect most near-infrared light). Following that, participants got to do some investigating of their own, exploring a site they were interested in, following a worksheet that guided participants through the PhenoCam website. The mix of learning, discussion, and hands-on practice made the workshop both fun and rewarding.
All in all, it was another successful and memorable contribution to this year’s Festival of Science. Thank you for your efforts, Darby and Mostafa!
The photo below shows Darby and Mostafa (front row); former NAU Vice President for Research, Bill Grabe (back row, center) participated in the workshop with his wife, Fredericka.
