Downtown Cary Park Launches Cary’s First Chronolog Citizen-Science Project

• The Chronolog photo station invites visitors to help document seasonal changes in Downtown Cary Park by contributing photos that create an ongoing, crowd-sourced time-lapse.
• Focusing on the lower pond ecosystem, the Chronolog tracks plant growth to inform long-term horticultural and environmental decisions.
• The project has already collected 85 photos from 73 contributors, with no planned end date.

Cary, NC - Downtown Cary Park is home to Cary's first Chronolog, a citizen-science photo station designed to help document seasonal changes in nature while engaging park visitors in hands-on environmental observation.

Installed along the walkway between the Park's lower pond and The Walker building, the Chronolog invites visitors to take part in a simple but powerful project: creating a crowd-sourced time-lapse that captures how the Park's landscape, plants, and wildlife change over time.

The Chronolog is an easy-to-use, four-by-four post with a small platform where visitors can place their phone, follow the instructions on the sign, and submit a photo. Once uploaded, images are automatically processed and added to a continuously updated time-lapse that can be viewed online, allowing the community to see the Park through different seasons and weather conditions.

The installation focuses on documenting the ecosystem of the lower pond, helping Cary better understand long-term patterns and make informed decisions about landscape management and plant life. A key area of interest is the pond's lotus population, which plays a vital role in water quality and habitat health.

The lower pond features native American lotus (Nelumbo lutea), a fast-growing aquatic plant that absorbs excess nutrients from stormwater before it flows into the Walnut Creek drainage system. By using nutrients that would otherwise feed algae, the lotus helps keep the pond clearer, cooler, and healthier. Their large leaves shade the water surface, while their stems provide habitat for predatory invertebrates that help control mosquito populations.

Because lotus grows so rapidly, Cary's horticulture team must manage the colony each year by removing runners and tubers - each of which can grow into a new plant. Tracking this growth over time is one of the reasons the Chronolog was installed.

Chronologs are designed to remain in place for long periods, allowing trends to emerge and landscapes to be documented as they mature and evolve. Since installation, the project has already compiled 85 photos from 73 contributors - approaching 100 images in what has quickly become a growing citizen-science effort.

For more information about Downtown Cary Park and its environmental initiatives, visit carync.gov/downtownpark.

If you have specific questions, visit carync.gov/311, dial 311 anywhere in Cary, (919) 469-4000 outside Town limits, or email [email protected].

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