Citizen scientists needed to document climate change MOUNT DESERT ISLAND — Six island nonprofits have come together to document the impacts of climate change on bird, pollinator, air and sea water temperatures. In a new project called Landscape of Change, the partners are comparing historic observations and data with modern findings to document change over time with a goal of better understanding how the island is changing. The Mount Desert Island Historical Society cares for an important collection of historic natural history observations taken on the island by a group of students from Harvard, known as the Champlain Society. These students spent a decade in the 1880s exploring island ecosystems and documenting their findings. The historical society was curious if these records could be used as a baseline from which to measure changes seen today that could be linked to climate change.