Enter EPA’s Smart City Air Challenge!

What if you had access to air quality data — minute-by- minute — from hundreds of locations in your community at the same time? How would you manage that data– and how would you share it with your local residents? The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is offering two communities $40,000 each to help figure that out. Currently, environmental … Read more “Enter EPA’s Smart City Air Challenge!”

Categories: Citizen Science, Project Profile

GAO cites ECAST: “Practices to Engage Citizens and Effectively Implement Federal Initiatives”

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (U.S. GAO) is the investigative arm of Congress charged with examining matters relating to the receipt and payment of public funds. Today, the GAO published a new report to advise how the federal government can better engage citizens. Expert and Citizen Assessment of Science and Technology (ECAST) is cited as … Read more “GAO cites ECAST: “Practices to Engage Citizens and Effectively Implement Federal Initiatives””

Categories: Citizen Science, Citizen Science News, Science Policy

Saving California’s Seals and Sea Lions

We tend to think of famine in human terms. But animal populations also experience wide-spread hunger, and the hundreds of emaciated young seals and sea lions stranded on California beaches in the past year were a poignant example. Fortunately, a large team of citizen scientists at The Marine Mammal Center—an animal hospital and research institute … Read more “Saving California’s Seals and Sea Lions”

Categories: Animals, Citizen Science, Nature & Outdoors, Ocean & Water, Project Profile

Citizen science pushes Hawai’i Department of Health to act on beach pollution

For the past seven years, citizen scientist volunteers with the Kaua’i chapter of the Surfrider Foundation Beach Watch Task Force have been testing the waters at 27 recreational sites along the Kaua’i coastline. This summer they achieved a victory when the Hawai’i Department of Health (HDOH) finally acknowledged the concerning levels of pollution in local … Read more “Citizen science pushes Hawai’i Department of Health to act on beach pollution”

Categories: Citizen Science, Project Profile

Understanding the Rhythms of the Desert: Citizen Science, Committed Communities, Public Libraries and SciStarter

A guest post from the Superstition Area Land Trust (SALT) community in Apache Junction, AZ. Understanding the Rhythms of the Desert: A Citizen Science and Lending Library Program  Presented by: The Superstition Area Land Trust (SALT), SciStarter, Arizona State University’s School for the Future of Innovation in Society, YLACES.org, GLOBE.gov & The Apache Junction Public Library The … Read more “Understanding the Rhythms of the Desert: Citizen Science, Committed Communities, Public Libraries and SciStarter”

Categories: Citizen Science, Guest Contributor, libraries, Project Profile

Citizen Science Maker Summit at Arizona State University: Register this week

  Do you run, or are you involved in, a citizen science project? Have you created, or would you like to create, a low-cost instrument that can be used for scientific research? Then join us for the the ASU Citizen Science Maker Summit 2016  ,  a two-day event, hosted by Arizona State University in partnership … Read more “Citizen Science Maker Summit at Arizona State University: Register this week”

Categories: ASU Citizen Science Maker Summit, Events

Stall Catchers: A Citizen Science Game to Combat Alzheimer’s

Guest post by: Egle Marija Ramanauskaite Some of you have been keen to hear more news about the project to fight Alzheimer’s – EyesOnALZ (formerly known as WeCureALZ), which we introduced in the earlier posts of this series. And guess what – we have big news to tell! And a brand new citizen science game … Read more “Stall Catchers: A Citizen Science Game to Combat Alzheimer’s”

Categories: Citizen Science, Gaming, Health

Protect Your Local Watershed: Become a Streamkeeper!

By: Nohra Murad and Jenny Cutraro Maintaining clean waterways: it’s a challenge confronted at the local level by communities across the globe. Stormwater runoff, trash, even sewage overflow, often contaminate urban waterways, degrading wildlife habitat, reducing opportunities for recreation, and placing drinking water supplies at risk. To confront this challenge, citizen scientists across the country … Read more “Protect Your Local Watershed: Become a Streamkeeper!”

Categories: Citizen Science, Ecology & Environment, Project Profile

Make Some Noise for Citizen Science!

Listen Up! Scientists need your help with a variety of audio-based research projects. Monitor noise levels near you; record sparrows’ songs to discover variations; track killer whales through audio recordings; and more!  Below, our editors highlight four citizen science projects focused on sounds.  Find more with the SciStarter Project Finder. Cheers! The SciStarter Team

Categories: Citizen Science, Newsletter