Blog: Citizen Science Projects, People, and Perspectives
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
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
Happy New Year! Looking for opportunities to make the world a better place this year? Start with these popular projects, which had the most traffic on SciStarter in 2016. Find more on SciStarter then simply bookmark your favorites to receive seasonal reminders! Cheers! The SciStarter Team
Categories: Animals, Astronomy & Space, Ecology & Environment, Featured Projects, Health
The holiday season is upon us! In the spirit of the season, we’ve put together another edition of our annual 12 Days of Christmas Newsletter. ANNNNNNNND…as our gift to you, we’ve made it possible for you to track your citizen science contributions and interests in one place! Check out the beta version of SciStarter 2.0. … Read more “12 Days of Christmas with Citizen Science (seriously!)”
Categories: Animals, Astronomy & Space, Birds, Citizen Science, Ecology & Environment, Newsletter
Citizen scientists have been studying birds for over 100 years, and some of the most popular projects involve observing birds throughout the winter. Below, we highlight five projects that study birds during the winter. Whether you want to watch birds while outdoors or from the comfort of your home, we have a project for you! … Read more “Winter Birding- Seasonal Citizen Science for Everyone!”
Categories: Birds, Citizen Science, Newsletter
I believe that citizen science is about citizenship as well as science. By this, I don’t mean citizenship in a specific country, but in a larger community. As a citizen scientist focusing on the natural world, I become a better citizen of that world—the world of tree frogs, say, or hummingbirds or dragonflies. Citizen science makes … Read more “Celebrating the citizen in citizen science”
Categories: Birds, Citizen Science, Ecology & Environment, Project Profile
Are you looking for something to make you shudder this Halloween? You can skip the scary movies and the frightening costumes. We’ve got projects that are creepy, slimy, scary, and above all else fun! Below, we’ve highlighted five spooky projects to help you celebrate Halloween. Find more with the Scistarter Project Finder. Cheers! The SciStarter … Read more “Celebrate Halloween with SciStarter”
Categories: Bats, Citizen Science, Newsletter
We tend to think of famine in human terms. But animal populations also experience wide-spread hunger, and the hundreds of emaciated young seals and sea lions stranded on California beaches in the past year were a poignant example. Fortunately, a large team of citizen scientists at The Marine Mammal Center—an animal hospital and research institute … Read more “Saving California’s Seals and Sea Lions”
Categories: Animals, Citizen Science, Nature & Outdoors, Ocean & Water, Project Profile
Going out of your way to attract mosquitoes seems like the last thing anyone would want to do, but that is exactly what the national Invasive Mosquito Project is hoping volunteers will do in the name of public health. Managed through the United States Department of Agriculture, the Invasive Mosquito Project aims to track the spread of … Read more “Enlisting youth citizen scientists to combat Zika”
Categories: Analyzing and interpreting data, Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering), Biology, Citizen Science, Constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering), Ecology & Environment, Education, Insects, Nature & Outdoors, Planning and carrying out investigations, Project Profile, Science Practices
A recent article in the New York Times highlights the way urban environments are affecting evolution in a variety of species. From European blackbirds with high-pitched calls to beat the sound of traffic to spiders adapted to build their webs closer to light poles, the dynamic and harsh urban environment is changing our biodiversity. Citizen scientists are … Read more “Urban Citizen Science”
Categories: Animals, Biology, Citizen Science, Ecology & Environment, Nature & Outdoors, Newsletter
