How to Tell a Rock from a Penguin: It’s Harder Than It Sounds

By: Lishka Arata Many things distinguish penguins from rocks. There’s color difference (usually), behavior (penguins waddle, rocks don’t), social structure (rocks don’t have one) — the list goes on. But why might someone need to distinguish between rocks and penguins? It’s a skill central to a long-term project that relies on citizen scientists, working from … Read more “How to Tell a Rock from a Penguin: It’s Harder Than It Sounds”

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

Bat Count: A Citizen Science Story

Join Jojo and her family counting bats as citizen scientists in the soon-to-be-released book Bat Count: A Citizen Science Story! You can read — and listen to — a free digital review copy today.  The story, written  by Philadelphia-area author Anna Forrester and illustrated by Susan Detwiler, encourages kids to get involved in citizen science and make it their … Read more “Bat Count: A Citizen Science Story”

Categories: Animals, Bats, Citizen Science, EarthSchool, Nature & Outdoors, Other

And the Squirrels Were Merry

I grew up in Fishtown, Philadelphia, an inner city grid of red-brick row homes, corner bars, candy shops, and barely-breathing factories. Fishtown was not known for its wildlife. There were birds. A wide variety, if two counts as a wide variety: big birds (pigeons) and small birds (sparrows). There were cats and an occasional dog … Read more “And the Squirrels Were Merry”

Categories: Animals, Citizen Science, Nature & Outdoors, Other

Spot a Squirrel and Help Science

January 21st is Squirrel Appreciation Day! Celebrate by participating in one of these squirrel-centric projects. It sounds a little nutty, but researchers rely on your squirrel observations to advance research about these furry friends.  Find more projects on SciStarter to do now, or bookmark your favorites for later! Cheers! The SciStarter Team Photo: USFWS Project … Read more “Spot a Squirrel and Help Science”

Categories: Animals, Citizen Science, Newsletter

Turtle Crossing in Wisconsin

Why did the turtle cross the road? Change the “why” to a “where,” and conservation biologist Andrew Badje just might be able to tell you. Through his work with the Wisconsin Turtle Conservation Program, Badje collects turtle road crossing data to help map populations, especially at precarious road and rail crossings.

Categories: Animals, Citizen Science, Project Profile

Environmental Protection Belongs to the Public: A #CitSciChat about the report for EPA on the role of citizen science

Last month, the National Advisory Council on Environmental Policy and Technology (NACEPT), an EPA advisory council, transmitted a report to EPA titled Environmental Protection Belongs to the Public: A Vision for Citizen Science at EPA outlining thirteen specific recommendations for EPA. (Learn more about the report, its genesis, and NACEPT, in this post, coauthored byShannon Dosemagen, Public Lab … Read more “Environmental Protection Belongs to the Public: A #CitSciChat about the report for EPA on the role of citizen science”

Categories: Events

From Pokémon to Pollinators: SciStarter’s Top 10 Posts of 2016

Every January, the SciStarter team begins the new year with a look back to the past. What kinds of stories did we tell in the past year, and which ones were our readers’ favorites? Below we’ve highlighted ten of our most popular posts from 2016. Check out what you might have missed and share with your friends! Augmented … Read more “From Pokémon to Pollinators: SciStarter’s Top 10 Posts of 2016”

Categories: Citizen Science, Other