Thank You!!!

From the absolute bottom of our hearts the PanAf science team wants to thank you guys for making this 2nd Anniversary at Chimp&See so special!

We started this project hoping that the videos we've been recording since 2010 would capture some minds and hearts but we never knew how amazing of a community we would be fortunate enough to build as well.

We are of course excited for the science, for all the analyses we're gonna be able to do thanks to YOU guys! But we are equally excited about getting people involved and excited about conservation and animal behaviour. We hope this window into chimpanzee habitats, that will be taking us to 14 different African nations by the time we are done, shines a strong and bright light on how important it is to protect these areas :)

A massive thank you to everyone who has been involved in classifications for the past 2 years and if you haven't been to Talk yet, please come and visit!!! Lurk for a while and then join in the conversation :) You can get involved in chimp matching, tagging camera reactions, discussing your favourite videos or anything to do with science, behaviour, conservation, or anything at all really! The Chimp&See Talk community is really my favourite place to go everyday - catch up on the "meet our citizen scientists" series if you missed it last week :)

We want to specifically thank our moderators again for all they do and for staying so motivated and engaged and dealing with the science team's noobiness when it comes to all of this. Especially to Anja and Kris who organized all of this year's Anniversary activities! Pant hoots and warmest thanks to: Kris, Anja, Jane, Zuzi & Briana!

We also want to give a massive thank you to the citizen scientists who contributed to this year's "Meet our volunteers" stories. It really touched us deeply that you shared your stories with us and that you feel as passionate about conservation as we do! Let us know if you ever want to volunteer in the field ;)  Pant hoots and warmest thanks to: Boleyn, Snorticus, Batfan,Vestigial, LauraKLynn, Paleosue, Squish5 and Zoogirl1 

To celebrate, I sign off with my favourite video that still makes me smile, an early one but a good one - #duikerfail

Cheers,
Mimi & the Science Team

A Story from @zoogirl1!

To help celebrate Chimp and See's 2nd anniversary, we asked our volunteers to share their personal stories, memories, and anniversary wishes for the blog. Today's volunteer story is from @zoogirl1:

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On Chimp and See, you know me as zoogirl1.  My real name is Caryn Bunshaft.

I'd like to say... Hi, my name is Caryn.

I picked zoogirl1 for a screen name because I would prefer to be with an animal over a human most of the time.

I would travel to every place on earth to see the animals living in the wild and I am doing a good job at that. When I don't travel, I volunteer at the Bronx Zoo with the aquatic birds (yes, I play with penguins on a regular basis) because they won't take a volunteer in the mammal department. I volunteer at a wildlife rehab center which is mostly for birds of prey. (I know, more birds). But I get to handle falcons, hawks and owls. Not bad.

They have many of the animals we see here in the Congo area of the zoo. I have gone specifically to see the duikers since we have seen so many of them. The duikers are soooooo small, they can't always find them in the exhibit.

Somehow through my husbands connections, I was introduced to this wonderful program. I have been glued to this thing for two years now. It is one of the few ways I can see wild things in their habitat and help them at the same time. I learn so much from the discussions.

The first time I was offered to name a chimp I was thrilled. Since then, I have named a few more chimps, a badger and a leopard. How cool is that?

Every now an then, the other projects on zooniverse call my name for a quick blast to help finish something and I willingly participate but always come right back here.

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Thanks, Caryn, and all our volunteers for making C&S such a special project!  This wraps up the Volunteer Story series in honor of our 2nd anniversary.  Stay tuned tomorrow for a message from Mimi!

A Story from @squish5!

To help celebrate Chimp and See's 2nd anniversary, we asked our volunteers to share their personal stories, memories, and anniversary wishes for the blog. Today's volunteer story is from @squish5:

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On Chimp and See, you know me as squish5.  My real name is Mick Ruby.

I'd like to say...

• I volunteer at Chimp and See because ... It's a great opportunity to assist even a little with this project. Really enjoying it and as I learn more it becomes more interesting. I spend a lot of time laid up due to a back injury so this is perfect for keeping me busy :)
• Something I never expected to learn from Chimp and See is... The difference in personalities of the chimps, like Marlyn's playfulness or Carouso's eating habits. You do get to know them after a while, even if very slowly.
• The best thing about being a part of Chimp and See is... Being able to communicate with the scientists directly, who are very helpful by the way. And also how knowledgeable the volunteers are.
• My favorite Chimp and See memory so far is... I was only a member for a short time when I came across a clip of a leopard jumping. The sheer power and grace was awesome, so of course I thought i would see a clip like that every week......... Not so much :(

Thanks for the opportunity and all the help/patience. Looking forward to plenty more sites in the future so HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!

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Thanks, Mick, and all our volunteers for making C&S such a special project! See you tomorrow for the last installment of our special Volunteer Story series!  (Mick left out some details about a dangerous car chase and thrilling explosions.  Maybe next time?)

A Story from @ksigler!

To help celebrate Chimp and See's 2nd anniversary, we asked our volunteers to share their personal stories, memories, and anniversary wishes for the blog. Today's volunteer story is from @ksigler:

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On Chimp and See, you know me as ksigler.  My real name is Kris.

I'd like to say... I live in Maryland, USA, about an hour northwest of Washington, DC.  Professionally, I've spent a lot of my life being a techie down in the city, but at home, I'm a wildlife-loving country girl.  I found Zooniverse and Chimp & See a couple of years ago when I felt compelled to start making a difference with my life.  Citizen science offered plenty of opportunities to dabble in my science and history interests, and of all my projects, Chimp & See captured my heart and mind the most.  Partially because of all the fascinating and adorable animals, like Sugar, one of my first namees.  However, it has also truly been one of the most rewarding activities of my entire life, and here's why...

First, it has my favorite nerdy things, like scientific research, detective work, intellectual discussions, and data analysis.  Second, it's also like a live-action hidden object game, interwoven with dialogue-free mini soap operas ripe for "caption this" fun.  Third, it has a wonderful, diverse community.  As an introvert, I was reluctant to get involved in Talk at first.  But everyone here is so nice and supportive of one another, and we accomplish so much as a team, it's hard to believe this is on the internet!

Finally (gonna get deep here for a minute), this project has helped me appreciate more of what's going on around me and around the world.  Baba Dioum's famous statement has always resonated with and motivated me: "In the end we will conserve only what we love, we will love only what we understand, and we will understand only what we are taught."  Chimp & See literally covers all of those in one place, for chimpanzees, other wildlife, and even us humans.  Each "Oh, really? I didn't know that!" moment of growth is like magic.  I feel fortunate and proud to be a part of a project spreading so much magic around the world.  Happy Anniversary, Chimp & See!

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Thanks (me, I guess? :-P) and all our volunteers for making C&S such a special project!  See you tomorrow for another story!