The Blair County Conservation District received a $3,649 grant from the federal Department of Environmental Protection Environmental Education Program to host a series of four “BioBlitz” events for local students over the coming year.

The funding is part of a $980,256 in total grant awards by the DEP for 56 environmental education projects across Pennsylvania.

According to Conservation Education Specialist Lisa Haas, these events will allow students to take part in a variety of activities designed to gather “baseline” ecological data at four different sites in Blair County.

These will include using the iNaturalist app, as well as a variety of more traditional scientific equipment to gather data on what species of animals, insects and plants are found in the area, and stream studies on local waterways.

The BioBlitz events will be spread out over the course of a year, with one BioBlitz per season beginning later this summer, Haas said.

Since the district just received the funds, Haas said, they have yet to draw up the complete plan for all four events.

They have, however, identified two of the blitz locations: NatureWorks Park in Hollidaysburg and the Grace Nature Trail in Tyrone. The district is also scouting for a suitable location in Roaring Spring and another in Altoona, Haas said.

The district had support from Jessica Kester at the Penn State Extension 4-H program during the grant application and during the events design process, Haas said.

According to Haas, the events will be intentionally “student-focused,” and will give the kids a chance to do hands-on work similar to that of professional environmental scientists.

“We want to encourage all students in Blair County to participate,” Haas said.

The data gathered by the students will be used by the district to track changes in the local ecosystem at each of the four blitz locations, Haas said.

Afterward, the scientific equipment purchased by the district for student use during the event will be made available for local school districts to borrow at no charge, Haas said.

While the exact date has not been announced for the first BioBlitz, Haas said, the district anticipates it will be sometime in July.

Mirror Staff Writer Conner Goetz is at 814-946-7535.