VIDA is an unprecedented effort and we need you to be a part of it to help make this a success. Natural history museums, research biologists, universities, environmental groups, and dedicated individuals are uniting to create the most complete database of Vermont invertebrates ever assembled. But without your help it can't be done.

To best harness your abilities, expertise, and time we need to learn more about you and any collections and databases that you may wish to share through VIDA.

With over 20,000 (we think) invertebrate species thought to be in Vermont, there is plenty for all of us to learn!

VIDA Questionnaire (text download)

1. Do you have or curate a collection that contains Vermont invertebrates? Is it a private or institution collection?

2. Would you be willing to share metadata about the collection? If yes, please visit the VIDA Collections Data Registry page to learn more and complete the form. The estimated time to complete this form is less than 30 minutes. The form is electronic for easy use or can be printed and mailed. The VIDA Collections Data Registry will be an archive of descriptive metadata for all Vermont collections or collections that contain Vermont data and will be available on the VIDA website as a “card catalogue” to Vermont’s invertebrate collections.

3. Is the collection available for use by other researchers? If not, please include a short explanation as to why, and when it might become available.

4. Are you interested in making specimen data electronically available through VIDA?

5. If the specimen data is not electronic, would you be willing to enter the data? Would you need help with data entry from VIDA? Would you need software help from VIDA?

6. Are you a taxonomic expert of a particular group? Are you available to assist with determinations in some Vermont collections if needed?

7. We would like to get faunal checklists for all invertebrate groups in Vermont to get an idea of what might be in the Green Mountain State. If you are a specialist, would you be willing to create a checklist of present or potentially present species for a specific taxonomic group? You can see some of the checklists that are already completed.

8. Would you be available to volunteer on VIDA activities such as data entry, collection sorting, error checking? Many tasks will require no prior experience.