MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Public Museum is embarking on a Community Science Project.

The goal is to study human impact on the environment and get the public involved.

Jon Bertolas is the supervisor of the Puelicher Butterfly Wing at the Milwaukee Public Museum.

He is surveying the Kinnickinnic River Trail for butterflies that are native to the area.

“Butterflies are a great indicator species of quality of habitat and there is a lot of habitat revitalization going on here,” said Bertolas.

This is just one part of the Statewide Community Science Project.

Bertolas said they have researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, the Cable Natural History Museum, the Harbor District and Marquette University participating.

He said they are looking at population trends among butterflies and other species. They are also encouraging the public to get involved.

“The idea is that there is a standard set of protocols in which we survey,” said Bertolas. “From my butterfly surveying, walking at a very pace consistent, looking at a certain radiance around me and recording all of this condition data whether its temperature, wind speed, cloud coverage.”

Bertolas said anyone interested in becoming a community scientist can reach out to the Milwaukee Public Museum. They can also submit their findings to the I-Naturalist app.

“If you have seen an orange butterfly, you jot down that you saw an orange butterfly,” said Bertolas. “It’s still relevant data. If you are able to dig deeper as you are doing it and as the summer goes on and learn more about butterflies, you get better at honing your ID skills.”

Bertolas said that it will not only help build public understanding of the environment, but it will also help researchers everywhere.

“We can look back at it over time and understand human behavior and the climate change aspects of what these populations look like year after year, so it’s definitely something we are interested in the long term for these sites,” said Bertolas.