Citizen Science Project: Snake Conservation and Education in Brazil

April 1st – October 1st, 2014
São Paulo, Brazil

Researchers from the Biological Museum of the Butantan Institute and the University of São Paolo’s Zoological Museum are sharing knowledge about snakes and venomous snake bites with inhabitants of the Guapiruvu neighborhood in the Vale do Ribeira region, one of the places in the Sete Barras municipality with a high rate of snake-bite accidents, including with children.

The project leader on the ground is Naylien Barreda, a Cuban environmental educator. By entering into a dialogue with local community members she and her collaborating environmental educator Bruno Gonçalves hope to promote the conservation of several snake species in the area while also helping the residents of Guapiruvu reduce the instances of venomous snake bites.

Over the next six months, Naylien, Bruno, and their collaborators will be working on educational workshops, collecting survey responses about local perceptions of snakes, covering topics such as venomous and non-venomous animals, recording snake-sightings, and creating a local snake guidebook for the region with locals.

The project also aims to help contribute to the São Paolo research foundation Biota-FAPESP, sometimes known as the Virtual Institute of Biodiversity, by carrying out research developed for the project titled “The Origin and Evolution of Snakes and their Diversification in the Neotropics: A Multidisciplinary Approach.”

If you would like to learn more about how this project has continued in local Brazilian communities, you can download a PDF document (in Spanish only). In this document you will find interesting results and ideas to inspire you to implement participatory science in all types of communities. Click here to download!

Explore more 'Events' and 'Mini-grants'