As mosquito-borne illness becomes a growing concern across Florida, one citizen science project is calling on residents to help track and eliminate mosquito habitats, starting with standing water in their communities.

But in Collier County, few have taken part. “My team and I pulled the data for Collier County last week, and there’s only been one observation in the entire county, and it was in 2018,” said Caroline Nickerson, communications lead for a NASA-funded project called EMERGE. The program recently reviewed data from NASA’s GLOBE Observer app, which is used to monitor and mitigate mosquito breeding grounds across Florida. That lone submission stands in stark contrast to neighboring areas, such as Cape Coral and Florida’s east coast, Nickerson said.

The GLOBE Observer app, developed by NASA and used in more than 100 countries, allows users to map mosquito habitats and receive step-by-step instructions for mitigation. The tool is being championed statewide through the University of Florida’s EMERGE project.

Seven human cases and one equine case of the mosquito-borne West Nile virus were confirmed in the county in 2020, according to data reported by the Florida Department of Health in Collier County and shared by the Collier Mosquito Control District. In fiscal year 2023-24, the district identified a new mosquito species, Aedeomyia squamipennis, capable of transmitting diseases such as Venezuelan equine encephalitis and avian malaria.

The Collier Mosquito Control District, which serves to protect the public’s health, now covers 730 square miles. Surveillance efforts are increasing, but without citizen involvement, gaps remain.

People of all ages can protect themselves and their community via the app, Nickerson said. “We see students doing it, retirees doing it and everybody in between.” GLOBE Observer combines knowledge and action: People map where mosquito habitats exist, particularly standing water, and then the app walks them through mitigation steps. For example, if someone finds standing water in tires on a property, the app guides them through safely pouring out that water.

While mosquito control departments and library systems have been early adopters of the program in other parts of Florida, Collier County has yet to get involved.

“In Collier County, the great champions haven’t stepped up yet, but I’m hoping now that we’re doing this statewide campaign, they will,” Nickerson said.

Local leadership could have a meaningful effect, especially given how easily many mosquito habitats in the region can be addressed.

“Most of the mosquito habitats are coming from these artificial sources in Southwest Florida,” Nickerson said. “It’s low-hanging fruit, because members of the public can immediately start to help mitigate that.”

The public can immediately help by dumping water out of tires, buckets on school grounds or any artificial containers holding water on their properties. “I find that very heartening, because it’s harder when it’s not an artificial source to take action,” Nickerson added.

For schools and educators, resources are readily available via geoemerge.com. The website provides all the resources to download the NASA Globe Observer app and start observing.

The project’s strength lies not only in encouraging action, but in building data that citizens can use themselves.

“What makes our EMERGE contribution unique, through our University of Florida lab, is that we’re creating tools for people across the state to analyze the data themselves, not just collect it for NASA,” Nickerson said. This enables them to use the data for decision-making, community action or any data-driven research they might need.

Nickerson believes this kind of public involvement could be especially important in underserved areas.

“Data is power,” she said. “One way I’ve seen citizen science used effectively in other projects is by documenting disparities that you can take to decision-makers to request action. With EMERGE, if community members are concerned about mosquito habitats in their area, the NASA app guides them through identifying different types of mosquito larvae and whether they might be more or less dangerous.”

Although only a single observation has been recorded in Collier since 2018, Nickerson said residents can still begin making a difference through the program.

“The cool thing about this app is that people are empowered to make their community safer immediately,” Nickerson said. “But for longer-term, systemic changes, they’ll have research results as a foundation to plan with others.”

The mosquito season in Southwest Florida is already well underway. How residents will respond to the buzz remains to be seen.