Independent Research Projects with Phenology

Students can gain experience planning, conducting, and presenting their own scientific investigations while contributing an important long-term data set tracking plant responses to climate change (see our Phenology and Climate Project for details).

Students groups can consolidate their own data using a Budburst Group and/or utilize data submitted to our public database by other Budburst participants.

Students may choose to investigate questions such as:

• How do flowering times compare between two different species?

• How does the timing of leaf color change vary with latitude?

• Do plants bloom earlier in years with warmer than average winters?

• How do differences in microhabitat influence the timing of leaf out in deciduous trees?

• Finally, students can investigate whether a plant species’ annual cycle responds to variability in climate by comparing their observations with historical data. Browse the National Phenology Network’s phenology datasets for relevant historical data.