Get involved in citizen science at the GMC
By Mary Sanseverino with Gretchen Whetham, Peter Josty, and Micki Chong
The Hallam Glacier, 2018. Photo: Mary Sanseverino.
Mountains galore, friends old and new, adventure, decisions, excitement, awe, reflection, respect, accomplishment, a wellspring of strength and joy: these are just a few of the attractions that bring people back again and again to The Alpine Club of Canada’s General Mountaineering Camp (and I haven’t even mentioned the food!). It’s been this way since the first GMC in 1906.
Did you know many of those early Alpine Club members were also outstanding citizen scientists? The first Canadian Alpine Journals regularly had articles on glaciology, botany, and wildlife – all written by mountaineers who were not necessarily trained scientists, but who were keen observers of their surroundings. Although inclusion of such articles is not quite so common today, the tradition of evocatively yet expertly describing the landscape is still very much alive in current CAJ articles. And, never fear, cutting edge Canadian mountain science is supported and encouraged by the ACC more than ever through the State of the Mountains Report.
I’m also pleased to report that in many ways citizen science is alive and well in the mountains in which we love to play, stay, live, and work. And there’s an easy way we can all contribute – it’s via an app (of course it is!) called iNaturalist (www.inaturalist.org). This free app helps to record and organize what we see in the environment. Any of us with a smartphone (or camera and GPS) can quickly and easily capture observations and submit them to a scientifically-curated global database of the natural world. If you can point a camera you can help extend scientific knowledge of the living world at your feet.
You don’t have to be an expert – iNaturalist will make suggestions for you both when you’re online with the full app and when you’re in the field with Seek. But the value added is that your preliminary ID can be confirmed by others – many of them experts – from around the world who are also part of iNaturalist. These experts will make suggestions for what your photo might be showing.
Fourpart Dwarf Gentian (Gentianella propinqua) – one of my favourite wildflowers. This one from the 2021 Mummery GMC. Photo: Mary Sanseverino.
I’ve used iNaturalist for many years now on my own alpine adventures, but 2021 at the Mummery Glacier was my first time using it at a GMC – and what a lot of fun it was! I learned about the biodiversity of the area, tried to get a good image of the mountain goat that regularly visited camp, and generally spent some quality time in an environment I quickly fell in love with.
Another cool thing about iNaturalist (iNat for short) is the ability to aggregate data into groups and publish it for anyone to see and use. Later, back home when I was working with my observations, I noticed four other climbers had also submitted data from the same area. It turns out they attended earlier GMC weeks. I was able to put my data together with theirs into the Mummery Glacier GMC 2021 project. That project is available for anyone with an Internet connection to access.
In total we had 189 observations covering 70 species. Our efforts provided research-grade information about biotic communities in the Mummery Group to scientists, naturalists, students, other mountaineers, etc. And, in undertaking this kind of study we followed in the footsteps of those early Alpine Club of Canada members who not only climbed the peaks, but also took time to note and describe the surrounding mountain environment.
And since this was such a success I did it again in 2023: you can check out The Chess Group: Alpine Club of Canada 2023 GMC project.
iNat also lets you reach out to contributing members so I thought “why not contact the other mountaineers whose observations are part of these two projects and see what they think about combining mountaineering with iNatting”?
I’ll bet many of you know these long-time ACC members: Peter Josty, Gretchen Whetham, and Micki Chong. All of them are keen mountaineers and iNaturalist contributors. I’ve been lucky enough to spend time at GMCs with Gretchen and Micki, but not Peter (yet!).
In fact, Gretchen and I shared time at the Chess Group GMC and it was there that we talked about putting together our iNaturalist observations and letting others in the ACC take a peek into our peak wanderings.
It was an extra bonus that Peter and Micki were also iNatting at the same camp, but in different weeks. Here’s an overview of the area the four of us covered. The number of observations (53 species and 81 observations) is smaller than Mummery, but if more mountaineers take up the call at this year’s Remillard camp then we might have our highest count yet.
Approximate iNaturalist coverage at the 2023 Chess Group GMC.
Perhaps Peter said it best:
“The reason I use iNaturalist at the GMC is because we are always in a remote area where very few people ever visit. So there is almost no good information on what lives there. Using iNaturalist helps to fill a large gap on the map.”
A bluebird day on King Peak, 2023 Chess Group GMC. Peter Josty (in blue) on the left. Photo: Peter Josty.
Check out these beauties from the Chess Group 2023 GMC – two of Peter’s favs.
Dwarf Alpine Hawk's-Beard (Askellia pygmaea). This is a vulnerable species in Alberta. Photo: Peter Josty.
Subalpine Fleabane (Erigeron glacialis). Photo: Peter Josty.
Peter is going to Week 2 at this year’s Remillard GMC. He will be iNatting (as well as getting up a bunch of peaks). If you are at Week 2 and have iNaturalist questions, Peter will be happy to help.
Gretchen also had a number of excellent finds from both the 2021 Mummery Glacier GMC and the Chess Group GMC. Here are two particularly important ones from 2021.
Nutty Saw-Wort (Saussurea nuda) from the ridge below Mt Carnes, 2021: Mummery Glacier GMC. This species is listed as vulnerable in BC. Photo: Gretchen Whetham.
White Bog Orchid (Platanthera dilatata) from north of the Mummery Glacier camp.This species is listed as globally vulnerable. Photo: Gretchen Whetham.
“When I’m at GMC I always feel a bit like an explorer. We’re privileged to spend time where few others have even set foot – this is particularly true in week 1!
It’s thrilling to head out over a moraine or glacier and find routes up seldom visited peaks. It is similarly exciting to examine the location at a finer scale. And I find it even more rewarding to put names to the flowers, shrubs, butterflies, and lichens we notice.
In the past most expeditions included a naturalist, although they may have had additional roles. These days my ‘expert’ is in my pocket in the form of iNaturalist. And now that I don’t sign up for the ten-plus-hour days, I also enjoy sharing observations with fellow GMCers.
Just like the scramble to learn new friends’ names on day 1, I feel more connected to the landscape when I know its intricacies by name.”
I’ll bet Gretchen’s thoughts on spending time and getting to know the mountains resonate with many of you – I know they do with me.
Low Braya (Braya humilis). Photo: Micki Chong.
In August of 2021 Micki caught a beautiful image of Low Braya (Braya humilis) on one of the lateral moraines north of the Mummery Glacier camp. Sometimes it’s important to pull back a bit and catch some of the surrounding location. Micki’s B. humilis photo shows very well the type of environment this plant likes to grow in – river bars, scree, and gravelly slopes in the montane to alpine zones (perfect for a moraine close to glacial runoff). And, this species is little studied, so observations like this are particularly helpful.
Artist's Week, August, 2023 - Chess Group GMC. Photo: Micki Chong.
Micki took this photo from Artist Week at the Chess Group GMC. Everyone is working in a field of pinky-purple Dwarf Fireweed (Chamaenerion latifolium) and bright yellow asters. The scene is very different from Week 1 – another good reason to encourage GMC participants to give iNaturalist a try – changes in flowers, animals, birds, and insects will be recorded over the lifetime of the camp. In these alpine environments a full GMC amounts to almost a whole growing season.
I, along with Micki, Peter, and Gretchen hope we’ve convinced you to give iNaturalist a try – not just at a GMC, but any time you are out in the mountains. As mountaineers we often enjoy the privilege of moving through landscapes that most people can only dream of. We get to see rare and endangered species in their natural habitats; to observe abundance, diversity, and change in unique places that are little-travelled. Spending a few minutes with our phones or cameras can deepen our understanding of the mountains and provide valuable data to researchers who will never get to these places. Perhaps we might think of it as carrying on the proud Alpine Club of Canada tradition of practicing science – citizen or other – when we climb!
Exploring the meadows below camp – 2023 Chess Group. Sitting L-R: Richard, Gretchen, Joel, Olivia, Pascale. Standing L-R: Davis, Barb, Fred, Claire, Lael, Mary. Photo: Mary Sanseverino.
More information
Check out these web resources to find out more about iNaturalist:
Getting started with iNaturalist – the basics.
Using iNaturalist offline in the mountains – a few tips and tricks with the full iNat application. All about Seek – a free identification app made by iNaturalist. Can be used offline. No iNat account necessary.
Why iNaturalist is an important tool for alpinists (a 2022 State of the Mountains article): Alpinists Contribute to Biodiversity Science Using iNaturalist. Read the French version here.
iNaturalist GMC Projects to date:
2021 — the Mummery Glacier GMC
2023 — the Chess Group GMC
2022 — the International Basin GMC (we didn’t forget 2022 – it’s in process – check back later for more observations).