Citizen scientists around the world finally have their own anthem!
Monty Harper, an Oklahama-based educator and entertainer, has released his latest song, “Citizen Scientist,” featuring SciStarter! We’ve adopted this as our theme song. Harper drew inspiration from the research of Dr. Janette Steets, a botanist at Oklahoma State University. And the best part is that Monty is a citizen scientist himself! He has personally participated in most of the projects mentioned in the song.
If you like the song as much as we do, please share with your friends, family, and anyone who else you think might be interested in learning about real science projects they can do.
Monty has been educating and entertaining children with his music about reading, creativity, and science since 1992. He’s the host of Born to Do Science, a live program and podcast that uses music to connect kids and families with scientists and their work. If you’d like to listen Monty’s other songs, selections from the program are featured on Harper’s Songs From the Science Frontier CD.
Citizen Scientist
My garden this year is a jumbled-up kind
My cow peas and daisies are all inter-twined
My botanist friend had me plant them just so
She’s collecting the data that may help her show
How a good mix of plants brings more insects afield
And maybe more bugs means a healthier yield
And I jumped at the chance to take part in her plan
Cause I’m happy to help when I can
I’m a citizen scientist
Citizen scientist
Joining the planet-wide dance
That helps human knowledge advance
I’ve weighed my tomatoes and measured their size
I’ve counted the cutworms and spiders and flies
My botanist friend takes the data all down
She’ll compare it with gardens from all over town
And maybe the numbers will show us the way
Toward gardening well without pesticide spray
But whether or not her study bares any fruit
It has still been a worthwhile pursuit
‘Cause I’m a citizen scientist
I’m a citizen scientist
Joining the planet-wide dance
That helps human knowledge advance
And when the garden has been tilled,
What new project will I do?
I could help explore the cosmos
For the Galaxy Zoo
I could sift through tiny fossils from mastodon times
I could try to fold some proteins with Fold.it online
In the Great Backyard Bird Count I could help keep track of birds
With SETI@home I could search for alien words
And for more exciting projects I could start working on
I’ll visit s c i starter dot com
I’ll visit s c i starter dot com
‘Cause I’m a citizen scientist
Citizen scientist
Joining the planet-wide dance
That helps human knowledge advance
And for more exciting projects I could start working on
I’ll visit s c i starter dot com (SciStarter)
I’ll visit s c i starter dot com (SciStarter)
I’ll visit s c i starter dot com
Science!
credits
released 04 December 2011
by Monty Harper