2025 Mar 21

 Grinnell Field Journal Method

I'm taking the California Naturalist Course (Mar-Apr 2025). Part of the assignment is Field Notes/Journaling using the Grinnell Method. This is my interpretation of the Grinnell Method from The Naturalists Field Journal: A Manual of Instruction Based on the System Established by Joseph Grinnell, published in 1986.  For the course, I am using only the first two parts of the multi-part system. The Field Notebook and the Field Journal.  

Thanks to our modern technology and iNaturalist, I am using my cell phone to capture images of plants, birds, mammal, insects, reptiles... to better document my observations for Field Notes. iNaturalist is a great way to easily create Species Lists for the Field Journal. 

p.s. I have learned quite a lot from "trying out" this rigorous method for recording information. Albeit dated, I can really appreciate the dedication previous decades of Naturalists' and what they went though to record information. After working on a few sets of Field Notes/Journal exploring the Grinnell Method, I now better understand the scientific rigor of the Grinnell Method--although my "experimental exploration" falls short of a true scientist.

But to be honest, I much more ENJOY the modern Nature Journaling promoted by John Muir Laws' techniques and method. I am a Wild Wonder Foundation Ambassador, and currently enrolled in Wild Wonder Foundation's Educator Program.  The John Muir Laws' approach to Nature Journaling is more of an exploration using curiosity and an "interpretive approach", in my opinion. Kind of an Interpretive Guide ON PAPER, rather than as a verbal Interpretive Guide. Again, my opinion.  To read about "Interpretive Guides" check out the National Association for Interpretation.

Now back to the Grinnell Method...


The Grinnell Method of Field Journaling

Professor St. John's Instructional Materials
Sonoma State University
(Lightly edited for formatting by Terri Mando. 4March2025).

The Grinnell Method was developed by Joseph Grinnell (1877-1939), a field naturalist, teacher and the first director of the University of California’s Berkeley Museum of Vertebrate Zoology. It was designed to aid scientific investigation and is a popular method used by professional biologists and field naturalists. His philosophy was that field notes were mainly for the use of other researchers, and so a standard format is necessary to help find information quickly and easily.

Grinnell’s system consists of four parts:

1.       a field notebook;

2.       a field journal, which consists of diary-like entries about field work and observations;

3.       a series of species accounts, with detailed information about the species encountered, and

4.       a catalog, which lists all the specimens collected in the field.

Include your name, permanent address, and contact information on the inside front cover.

To ensure that you or someone in the future can read and understand your notes:

·        Use fade-proof ink, and acid-free or waterproof paper if possible

·        Use digits (“1”) instead of written out numbers (“one”)

·        Use as few abbreviations as possible –if people read your journals years from now, it might not be clear what you were trying to communicate (and even you might not remember after a bit of time has passed)

·        Put your name and the year at the upper left corner or each page.

·        Number each page in the upper right corner

·        Write on only one side of each page (usually the right side, but this can be reversed if desired). The other side can be used for maps, photos, and sketches.

 

A pocket-sized field notebook to directly record observations as they are happening. Your notes will include some or all of the following:

·        Date (on every page), in international format: 24 January 2018

·        Both arrival and departure times, in 24-hour clock format: 1435 for 2:35 p.m

·        Locality (place, latitude, longitude, GPS readings, sketched maps, description, e.g. distance from “the pond,” or from “the red boulder,” etc.)

·        Companions, if any

·        Route (directions to the site, or notes about the route traveled)

·        Weather (temperature, cloud types, wind, rain, etc.)

·        General impressions

·        Habitat (backyard, forest, desert, wetland, level of water in the creek, etc.)

·        A list of species seen, with any relevant notes, particularly, things that might help you identify a species, or justify your identification after the fact (Was the hawk’s eye yellow or red? How many leaflets were present on each blackberry leaf?)

o   Physical (color, weight, size, growth stage) and behavioral observations (including a transcription of any songs or vocalizations you might have heard)

o   For vegetation, growth stage or status (e.g. is it in flower? Insect visitors present?)

o   Sketches of organisms or their tracks

o   Information about any field work performed, including schematics of experimental or sampling procedures

o   Data collected, if necessary.

 

The rest of your system – the field journal – will be kept in a separate binder (physical, or digital). The first binder section is the narrative, with chronological written entries that contain a detailed account of your field work for each day. These entries are written in a diary-like format, using the notes you jotted down in your field notebook. Make sure you transcribe these scribbled field notes into complete sentences as soon as possible after the work has been completed. The “tradition” is to sit down every evening and write up an account from your notes of that day. Your narrative entries should contain:

·        All the general/identifying information collected in the field notebook

·        A clear narrative of the day’s events (reconstructed from field notes)

·        Explanations of work you performed, when necessary (how you located tracks and signs, where you looked for plants and animals, any specific field techniques you used)

·        Data collected

·        A complete list of species observed

 

The narrative section is written chronologically, with only a few lines between daily entries – do not start a new page for each entry.

Memories fade quickly, so don’t let too much time pass before transcribing your field notes into your field journal, no more than 24 hours.


A few other tips for your field journal:

·        Follow the formatting conventions listed for the field notebook

·        Use a loose-leaf ring binder for your field journal

·        Describe your day’s work in complete sentences

·        Put your name and the year at the upper left corner or each page.

·        Number each page in the upper right corner

  • A journal will typically cover a single calendar year

After the narrative section, you will include a species account for every organism you encountered. In this section, you will include all sightings for a given species together, chronologically, before beginning the section for the next species (on a new page). This format allows you to quickly locate all information on any particular species you’ve studied, without having to search through the individual daily entries. The format is as follows:

·        List the scientific and common names

·        Include a description of the key features that allowed you to make the identification

·        Provide (dated) notes about location, phenology, and behavior observed

·        If this species is observed again during a subsequent field experience, just add each new account in chronological order.


The Grinnell method catalog is a list of all the specimens collected during field observations

How it works

·        In the catalog, you assign a number to each specimen, such as a rock or pine cone.

·        You can keep the catalog in a separate section of your journal or in a separate book.

·        At the end of the year, you close out the print format record and start a new page for the next year.