Sargassum Watch Citizen Science Program
Citizen Science for Coastal Resilience
Sargassum Watch is a citizen science program documenting Sargassum landings along coastlines. Through contributions from volunteers and coastal communities, the program provides local data that complement large-scale monitoring efforts and help scientists better understand Sargassum events.
Why is a Citizen Science Program important?
Why Sargassum Watch?
Satellite imagery tells us what is happening across broad regions; local observations tell us what is happening on the shoreline.
Satellite imagery can estimate the abundance and distribution of Sargassum influxes across a region, but it cannot capture the conditions experienced at individual beaches. Local observations provide important information about where Sargassum is actually reaching shore, how conditions vary between locations, and when landings occur. Together, these approaches provide a more complete picture of Sargassum events and can help inform scientists, coastal communities, and stakeholders.
Open Science
All data collected through Sargassum Watch is made freely available to researchers, policymakers, and the public.
Community First
We design our tools and protocols around the needs of coastal residents — not the other way around.
Rigorous Methods
Our observation protocols are developed in partnership with marine scientists to ensure data quality and reproducibility.
Timeline
Our History
Sargassum Watch was created in 2013 by Dr. Lowell Iporac as part of his PhD dissertation research, with guidance from Dr. Ligia Collado-Vides. The project was originally developed using the Epicollect5 citizen science platform.
The original projects remain available on Epicollect5:
Sargassum Watch Today
In 2026, Sargassum Watch transitioned to the Geo.ai platform, expanding the project to collect 5–10 second shoreline videos and photographs of Sargassum morphotypes. This new approach allows us to document conditions at specific locations while also capturing information about the different types of Sargassum reaching shore. Today, the program is managed by Sargassum Consulting Group, led by Dr. Danielle Hatt and Dr. Ligia Collado-Vides.
Interested in using Sargassum Watch Citizen Science Program data?
Data & Collaboration
Sargassum Watch data are available for use by researchers, organizations, and other professionals interested in Sargassum research, monitoring, education, or coastal management. We are open to collaborations and partnerships with organizations interested in participating in Sargassum Watch. We can work with interested groups to develop monitoring efforts and provide workshops or training to help communities and organizations contribute to the program.
To use data from the Sargassum Watch Citizen Science project on Epicollect5 or Geo.ai, please contact us and mention the project in your email.
sargassumgroup@gmail.comOur Team
The Scientists Behind Sargassum Watch
Sargassum Watch is managed by two marine scientists whose research and outreach have shaped the program since its earliest days.
Dr. Danielle C. Hatt
Program Lead
Dr. Danielle Hatt is a marine phycologist and physiologist whose research integrates genetic, molecular, and experimental approaches to investigate the physiological and ecological drivers of bloom dynamics, invasion success, and resilience in marine macroalgae and seagrasses under environmental change. Her research on pelagic Sargassum has focused on its transport and distribution in South Florida, its impacts on nearshore seagrass communities, and the physiological factors influencing bloom dynamics.
Dr. Hatt has contributed to the Sargassum Watch Citizen Science Program and now manages the program, supporting efforts to engage the public in documenting Sargassum landings and generating observations that help researchers understand its distribution along coastlines. She is also a co-founder and member of the Sargassum Consulting Group (SCG). Dr. Hatt is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) Eastern Shore Laboratory.
Dr. Ligia Collado-Vides
Program Lead
Dr. Ligia Collado-Vides is a marine botanist and co-founder of the Sargassum Consulting Group (SCG), whose work has contributed to the development of community-based approaches to monitoring Sargassum landings. She developed Sargassum Watch in collaboration with her Ph.D. student, Lowell Iporac, to engage citizen scientists in documenting Sargassum along shorelines and provide localized observations of landing events.
Her research focuses on the ecology, diversity, and distribution of tropical and subtropical marine macroalgae, including the role of macroalgae as indicators of environmental change in coastal ecosystems. She is also the founder and manager of SargNet, a network that facilitates information exchange among scientists, stakeholders, and others working on or affected by Sargassum influxes. Dr. Collado-Vides is a Retired Teaching Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and the Institute of the Environment at Florida International University in Miami, Florida.
About Sargassum Consulting Group
Sargassum Consulting Group manages the Sargassum Watch program and leads research, outreach, and partnerships related to Sargassum monitoring and coastal management. The group is led by Dr. Danielle Hatt and Dr. Ligia Collado-Vides.