Citizen Science for Women's History Month and Other March Events

Illustration of a robot posed like the iconic Rosie the Riveter poster — Rosie the Robot is ready to do her part for Citizen Science! (illustration: Kevin Ripka)

It’s Women’s History Month AND Citizen Science Month is nearly upon us. And that’s why we have Rosie the Robot urging everyone to roll up their sleeves and do their part by signing up for the One Million Acts of Science Challenge! If we all work together We Can Do It!

Young Maria Mitchell peering into telescope — Close up of portrait of Maria Mitchell, ca. 1851, painted four years after Mitchell achieved fame for discovering what came to be known as “Miss Mitchell’s Comet.” (Credit: Public Domain, from The Archives and Special Collections of the Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association.)

Celebrate Maria Mitchell, awesome astronomer and human!

At the age of 16, Maria Mitchell opened her own public school on Nantucket Island– the only public school open to children of color. To hear the rest of her amazing story, watch the video recording of the March 19th SciStarter LIVE, featuring Jónelle Gurley, Director of Science and Programming at the Maria Mitchell Association in Nantucket, MA.

Composite image for the CrowdWater project showing a stream, images from mobile app and funding logos — The CrowdWater citizen science project is a global effort to crowd-source information about streams and rivers, including water levels, flow rate, and plastic pollution. (Credit: CrowdWater)

Water you doing for World Water Day?

March 22 is World Water Day! This annual United Nations observance day highlights the importance of fresh water. To celebrate, how about joining CrowdWater? Download their mobile app and collect valuable information on water levels, streamflow quantities, soil moisture, and plastic pollution for a global database.

Appreciate manatees!

Manatee facing forward — Manatees have more complex vocalizations than was previously known, especially between mothers and their young. (Credit: Robert Bonde, USGS- Public Domain)

In honor of Manatee Appreciation Day (March 27), why not join Manatee Chat? You’ll listen to underwater audio recordings and try to pick out and characterize manatee vocalizations.

Photo of Northern Leopard Frog on pavement — There are nearly 100 species of frog in North American, this northern leopard frog among them. For FrogWatch USA, you’ll listen to discover what frogs live in your area (Credit: Katie Goodwin, USFWS- public domain)

Keep an ear out for frogs!

The project is called FrogWatch USA, but FrogListen might be more apt: as a volunteer, you’ll stake out a spot where you’re likely to hear frogs and spend three minutes listening and taking notes to share with FrogWatch workers. What better way to kick off Frog Awareness Day (March 20). Seeing this after March 20? April is National Frog Month!

April 2024 citizen science calendar showing projects and events — There are projects and events for every day of Citizen Science Month in this interactive calendar.

Get Ready for Citizen Science Month

And speaking of April, April is Citizen Science Month, and this year people from all over the world will be contributing the One Million Acts of Science challenge. And with this interactive calendar, you won’t miss a moment of Citizen Science Month action! There are curated events and projects that can be done from practically anywhere throughout the month.

Photo of Emma Giles from SciStarter and Science Cheerleader Janel inside a frame for Science Cheerleaders — Science cheerleader Janel (right) gets framed with SciStarter’s Emma Giles at the AwesomeCon Festival in Washington, DC. (Credit: Bob Hirshon)

Science Cheerleaders Rock AwesomeCon!

Need a bit more inspiration? The Science Cheerleaders are current and former professional and college cheerleaders who have embarked on science careers. They joined SciStarter at the AwesomeCon festival in Washington, DC to share their enthusiasm for science with attendees.

About the Author

Bob Hirshon

Bob Hirshon heads up Springtail Media, specializing in science media and digital entertainment. He is Principal Investigator for the NSF-supported National Park Science Challenge, an augmented reality adventure that takes place in National Parks. Hirshon headed up the Kinetic City family of science projects, including the Peabody Award winning children’s radio drama Kinetic City Super Crew, McGraw-Hill book series and Codie Award winning website and education program. Hirshon can be heard on XM/Sirius Radio’s Kids Place Live as “Bob the Science Slob”, sharing science news and answering children’s questions. At SciStarter, Bob edits the Citizen Science Podcast.

View posts by Bob Hirshon