Covering the people, projects and phenomena of citizen science
Blog: Citizen Science Projects, People, and Perspectives
Citizen Science in the City
By Eva Lewandowski, Feb 17, 2017
Do you live or work in a city? Well, have we got the projects for YOU! Below, we highlight research projects in need of your help in cities. Find more projects on SciStarter to do now or bookmark your favorites for later!
Cheers!
The SciStarter Team
Snow Tweets
It’s easy to report snow fall in your city with Snow Tweets! Just Tweet your snow depth and location with #snowtweets. Bonus! You’ll help cryosphere scientists calibrate weather satellite data.
NASA has a database with almost half a million pictures taken by the astronauts on the International Space Station. Help create a map of cities at night to study light pollution by interpreting the photographs to determine, for example, if the camera was pointed at a city or the stars…while enjoying beautiful pictures taken from space.
Turn your smartphone into a sensor and measure sound exposure levels in your city. Create an open, geo-tagged Noise Pollution map in the process and help scientists track changes in phenology among other things.
Celebrate Citizen Science Day with the Philadelphia Science Festival and the National Park’s Every Kid in a Park effort, on Apr 27, 10-3. Make like Lewis & Clark and help create a census of plants, insects and birds all around the National Park! Make cloud observations to ground-truth NASA satellite data, learn why the Liberty Bell’s microbes were sent to the International Space Station, and more!
Measure the circumference of a tree trunk near you, add that data to this database, and see the calculated ecological and economical benefits of that tree!
Excited about urban nature? The City Nature Challenge will be happening in cities across the United States this Spring. Find one near you in theSciStarter Event Finder!
Eva Lewandowski is the Citizen-based Monitoring Coordinator for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, where she coordinates a statewide citizen science network. She has a PhD in Conservation Biology from the University of Minnesota and is an active volunteer.
