Are you a citizen scientist? Do you manage a citizen science project? Why not celebrate Citizen Science Day on 13 April?
On that Saturday, a global community of citizen science practitioners and supporters will be holding hundreds of events to raise awareness of the importance of engagement between science and society.
If you are involved in citizen science, then why not support one of the many great activities out there and make it even stronger on 13 April? You could pick a citizen science project or two to help: distribute their flyers, bookmarks, games, or videos!
Or, if you want to be part of something really big, you could condense one year of lab work in one hour of citizen science: all by playing the Stall Catchers, a gamified way of contributing to Alzheimer’s research, during the Megathon. That’s what we can achieve if we work together! If you invite your network and your friends to register on Megathon.us, you can help answer a key Alzheimer’s research question.
It’s also essential to show your community how science is a field in which we can all play a role. Why not make a poster and tell the world that April 13 is Citizen Science Day? You could highlight projects you care about on your poster. SciStarter.org/Citizen-Science-Day has posters you can download for inspiration.
Or, if you are a regular user of libraries, talk to your librarian friends about how they could support citizen science. Tell them about The Librarian’s Guide to Citizen Science or that The European Association of Research Libraries (LIBER) decided to start a working group dedicated to citizen science. Do it on 13 April 2019!
The European community has many resources to celebrate citizen science year-round, on 13 April and beyond. “Often with citizen science, you only need a little enthusiasm to get involved. In Felixstowe, UK, they started a citizen science group only a year ago,” said Dr. Adrian Cooper, a conservationist, writer, and lecturer based in the United Kingdom. “With enthusiasm, and some help from an academic geographer, they’ve already had maps and data analysis published across Europe and North America, so they’ve been able to share what they do both digitally and in print.”
Another example of a successful citizen science effort in Europe is CurieuzeNeuzen Vlaanderen, a citizen science project based in Flanders, Belgium that focuses on air quality.
Based in Europe and looking for a citizen science project near you? Take a look at the SciStarter Project Finder, and don’t forget to play Stall Catchers on Citizen Science Day this 13 April!
Whatever you do on Citizen Science Day: do something! And then spread the word about citizen science.
Citizen Science Day is celebrated each year in April. This year, Citizen Science Day falls on 13 April.
