Sci4Cits comes alive at the Science Online 2010 conference!

The science blogging community gathered (in person) at the increasingly popular Science Online 2010 conference in Durham, N.C. this past weekend where I was invited to chat about Adult Science Literacy, Science in the Media, and Citizen Science. I had the chance to unveil this beta version of  Sci4cits to an enthusiastic reception from the science bloggers. They smiled, they tweeted, they blogged, and they provided lots of helpful suggestions. (We’re still seeking comments on this beta version and we’d love to hear from you.)

Some highlights from the session:

Science journalist Carl Zimmer substantiated the merits of citizen science and illustrated an example taking place in North Carolina…with dogs!

PLoS (Public Library of Science) biology editor Jonathan Eisen, who plans to launch a microbiology citizen science project, asked about unifying online data collection modules to enable researchers (and volunteers) to share information culled by citizen scientists. If you have ideas, let us know.

My co-presenters Scott Baker and Ben MacNeill shared their own experiences with citizen science projects:

Scott runs a Twitter-based reporting method to track fish catches. Now, through the wonder of Twitter, fishers log their catches and send the data to regulators–in real-time–using their cellphones.

Ben developed  Trixie Tracker, a data tracking web and phone app that allows parents to tease out patterns in their children’s sleep activity. Someday in the not-so-distant future, this information may be used by doctors and other scientists studying corollary trends (it could even be mashed-up with data now available from data.gov).  Maybe we’ll see a correlation between sleep habits and fish catches. 🙂

Pictured here are some of the Science Online 2010 speakers: Darlene Cavalier, Dr. Kiki Sanford, Rebecca Skloot, and Joanne Manaster.
Pictured here are some of the Science Online 2010 speakers: Darlene Cavalier, Dr. Kiki Sanford, Rebecca Skloot, and Joanne Manaster.

More reactions to the event can be found here, here and here.

Categories: Citizen Science, Events

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About the Author

Darlene Cavalier

Darlene Cavalier

Darlene Cavalier is a Professor at Arizona State University's Center for Engagement and Training, part of the School for the Future of Innovation in Society. Cavalier is the founder of SciStarter. She is also the founder of Science Cheerleader, an organization of more than 300 current and former professional cheerleaders pursuing STEM careers, and a cofounder of ECAST: Expert and Citizen Assessment of Science and Technology, a network of universities, science centers, and think tanks that produces public deliberations to enhance science policymaking. She is a founding board member of the Citizen Science Association, a senior advisor at Discover Magazine, a member of the EPA's National Advisory Council for Environmental Policy and Technology, and was appointed to the National Academy of Sciences "Designing Citizen Science to Support Science Learning" committee. She is the author of The Science of Cheerleading and co-editor of The Rightful Place of Science: Citizen Science, published by Arizona State University. Darlene holds degrees from Temple University and the University of Pennsylvania and was a high school, college and NBA cheerleader. Darlene lives in Philadelphia with her husband and four children.