Blog: Citizen Science Projects, People, and Perspectives
See that partridge in a pear tree? Make sure you count it for Audubon’s Christmas Bird Count, one of the largest and longest running citizen science projects in existence today. It’s a 112 year tradition, with upwards of 60,000 person-days of effort and more than 60 million birds counted each year. “Each of the citizen … Read more “Christmas Bird Count takes flight”
Categories: Animals, Biology, Birds, Ecology & Environment
The hills are alive with the sound of citizen science (and music)! Calling all music enthusiasts–the Bodleian Libraries are enlisting the help of the public in order to improve access to their music collections. About sixty-four boxes filled with unbound, uncatalogued sheet music from the mid-Victorian period has been digitized for public access. Although this … Read more “What’s the Score?”
Categories: Archeology, Citizen Science, Computers & Technology, Do-It-Yourself, libraries
Have you ever thought of yourself as the sum of your actions? What about the sum of years you've been alive, the number of hairs on your head, or how many times a day you brush your teeth? Our lives can be broken down into endless categories of quantifiable data. With these tiny, incremental details, what could an outside observer piece together to learn about the big picture that is your life? … Read more
Categories: Citizen Science
With Hurricane Sandy looming large, weather’s the nation’s top news story. In case you’re at home sitting out the storm like the bulk of the SciStarter team, we’ve got you covered (no pun intended) with plenty of weather-related citizen science opportunities to help researchers and advance science. Bonus: here’s a weather-appropriate, musical supplement to your … Read more “It’s Raining, It’s Pouring, But You Won’t Be Snoring: Weather-Related Citizen Science Projects!”
Categories: Citizen Science, Climate & Weather, Ecology & Environment, Geology & Earth Sciences, Nature & Outdoors, Ocean & Water
“Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.” –Victor Borges Aristotle posed that laughter is what sets humans apart from other species. Think about it. We love to laugh—at jokes, movies, at each other. We laugh to ease tension, because others are laughing, or simply just because. All right, Aristotle may not have been completely … Read more “A Citizen Science Project That Will Make You LOL”
Categories: Biology, Citizen Science
We couldn’t have asked for a better citizen science project to start off October, a month often associated with Halloween and all things spooky. Introducing Bat Detective, a project that enlists citizen scientists to screen sound recordings of bats to classify their distinct calls. Bats are nocturnal, making them very difficult to spot with the … Read more “Become a Bat Detective”
Categories: Animals, Bats, Biology, Citizen Science, Climate & Weather, Ecology & Environment, Insects, Nature & Outdoors
A painter cannot paint without brushes. Similarly, a scientist cannot work without tools. PLOTS, the Public Laboratory for Open Technology and Science, is dead set on carrying out a mission to equip people with the proper tools for research. SciStarter and PLOTS are working together to help connect PLOTS tools and innovations to the growing … Read more “SciStarter Unites Citizen Science with DIY Community”
Categories: Citizen Science
While Hallow’s Eve has you captivated by the curios, be sure to stay curious too! With these citizen science projects, it’s all treat, no tricks. … Read more
Categories: Animals, Archeology, Astronomy & Space, Biology, Citizen Science, Physics
Curiosity Kills Cat, Leads Us to Red Planet Imagine for a moment that you are floating through space—dark, desolate, and deep. Months have passed since you left Earth. You’re millions of miles away from home, far removed from any comfort you’ve ever known. Then slowly, out of that interminable blanket of nothingness emerges a luminous … Read more “Be A Martian: NASA’s Mars Citizen Science Laboratory and the Mars Curiosity Landing”
Categories: Citizen Science
Honeybees. Apis mellifera. Innocuous, diligent workers with only one mission in mind: to survive and provide for the hive. You would hardly ever come across a honeybee taking a break or straying from routine. Why, then, are honeybees in California and South Dakota suddenly abandoning their hives at night? Some seem to wander and stumble … Read more “The ZomBee Apocalypse: A Citizen Science Project Sweet as Honey”
Categories: Citizen Science
