P1020768This program provides positive youth development for Missoula area school kids, including Hellgate High School and Willard Alternative High School.

Whitney Warren, Program Coordinator for Flagship, has arranged field trips to our banding station for the last two years. We couldn't be any happier with these kids and their participation. These students work side-by-side with us, assisting in all aspects of the work.

Whitney, always on the hunt to involve her students in new projects, met with Kristi DuBoise to discuss some potential ideas. Kristi suggested Osprey Platform Nest Monitoring. Currently, nobody seems to know just how many platforms there are in the Missoula area or how many are actually used. Whitney brought in Matt Johnson, Flagship Program coordinator for Hellgate High School, to involve his students as well. From this cooperative effort spawned the Osprey Citizen-Science Monitoring Project. We look forward to starting the field work in April, when the Osprey return from their wintering grounds from as far south as South America.