By Darlene Cavalier, Oct 06, 2010
Previously on this blog, Sci4Cits blogger Elizabeth Walter reported on Bard College’s novel attempt to bring citizen science into the minds of all freshmen through an intensive, mandatory, three-week course, aptly titled Citizen Science.
Bard’s President, Leon Botstein, is a passionate believer that citizen science activities hold the key to helping people reconnect to science and better understand the world around them. The more people understand about the scientific process–and how things work–the better able they are to participate more fully in our democracy. (It’s difficult to weigh in on science policy discussions centered on synthetic biology, for example, if one is uninformed on the topic.)
Sci4Cits and Bard are working together to arm freshmen and their professors with plenty of citizen science projects and a platform for them to share their experiences. We hope you will follow their three-week journey, starting in January, and share feedback on the students’ Sci4Cits member blogs!
In the interim, check out this amusing clip of Botstein on the Colbert Report, last night!
Categories: Citizen Science, Science Policy
Tags: Bard College, Colbert report, Leon Botstein, Video
About the Author
Darlene Cavalier
Darlene Cavalier is a professor of practice at Arizona State University's School for the Future of Innovation in Society and a Senior Global Futures Scientist, Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory at ASU. Professor Cavalier is the founder of SciStarter (a popular citizen science portal and research platform connecting millions of people to real science they can do), founder of Science Cheerleaders (a non profit organization comprised of current and former NFL, NBA and college cheerleaders pursuing STEM careers), cofounder of ECAST: Expert and Citizen Assessment of Science and Technology and cofounder of ScienceNearMe.org. She is a founding board member of the Citizen Science Association, an advisor and Fellow at National Geographic, a member of the EPA's National Advisory Council for Environmental Policy and Technology, appointed to the National Academy of Sciences "Designing Citizen Science to Support Science Learning" committee and named cochair of America 250's Innovation, Science, and Entrepreneurism Advisory Council. She is the co-editor of "The Rightful Place of Science: Citizen Science," author of "The Science of Cheerleading," and co-author of the Field Guide to Citizen Science (Timber Press). Recently, ASU President Michael Crow awarded Cavalier and her team the prestigious Medal for Social Embeddedness.
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