Blog: Citizen Science Projects, People, and Perspectives
SciStarter is partnering with National Moth Week (available in 50+ countries)! July 17 through 25, people of all ages are gathering to explore and learn about the wonderful world of moths. There are over 1,000(!) registered mothing events to choose from. Find one near you or sign up to host an event of your own! Finding moths is … Read more “Celebrate National Moth Week July 17-25”
Categories: Animals, Citizen Science, Ecology & Environment, Insects
In the past 40 years, butterfly populations have declined dramatically across the American West, both in cities and in the wilderness. Overall, butterflies are now declining at a rate of 1.6 percent each year. That’s what researchers using butterfly observations from citizen scientists and professional researchers found in a recent study. Their work, drawing from … Read more “Western Butterfly Populations are Plummeting, Citizen Science Data Shows”
Categories: Animals
In 1902, an international trade deal was brokered between the U.S. and Canada. Frank Baker, superintendent of the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, D.C., had been working on the deal for some time. In a letter from 1900 sent to several addresses in Ontario, Canada, Baker explains he is “very desirous of obtaining” a particular … Read more “City Squirrels Look Different. Is Evolution Driving a Color Change?”
Categories: Animals
Every year around Christmas time, tens of thousands of volunteer birdwatchers gather in familiar locations across the Western Hemisphere for a tradition that dates back more than a century. On select days between December 14 and January 5, volunteers with the National Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Count take a census of every bird they see … Read more “How a Christmas Tradition has Helped Track Billions of Vanishing Birds”
For many of us, the sound of fall is defined by honking geese overhead and the calls of familiar songbirds in our yards. Every year, billions of birds, bats and insects take to the air in an ancient migration that leads them from the northern reaches of our continent to more temperate climates in the … Read more “Radar is Revolutionizing the Study of Migrations, but Researchers Need Birdwatchers’ Help”
Categories: Animals
This post was originally published as a SciStarter newsletter. Sign up to receive bi-weekly citizen science in your inbox! Citizen science projects featuring insects, spiders and their relatives You can call them “insects, spiders and their relatives” or you can call them “bugs” (and incur the wrath of those who point out that the only true … Read more “SciStarter Goes Buggy!”
Categories: Insects, Newsletter
This is a guest blog post from the Spot-a-Bee project. In these challenging times, when we are spending more time in our homes and neighbourhoods than many of us may have imagined possible, we at Spot-a-Bee have worked to develop a family learning approach, centred around the Spot-a-Bee citizen science project. The Spot-a-Bee project was … Read more “Spot-a-Bee: Mapping the Urban Bee Garden”
Categories: Education, Guest Contributor, Insects, Nature & Outdoors
Deja Perkins loved animals growing up. And by the time she left her native Chicago to attend Tuskegee University in Alabama, she wanted to become a veterinarian, often the only animal-related career introduced to people of color, she says. But it didn’t take long before Perkins realized she’d rather study animals in the natural world. … Read more “#BlackInNature: How Young Scientists are Pushing for Equality”
Categories: Birds, Citizen Science, Nature & Outdoors, Other
Plastic pollution in our oceans is a major, on-going global crisis. Researchers estimate that 8 million tons of plastic end up in the ocean every year. Much of the plastic is dumped carelessly, on land or in rivers, and then carried or blown into the sea. Nearly 700 species, including endangered ones, are already known … Read more “To Fight Plastic Pollution, These Researchers Want Your Pictures of Beach Trash”
Categories: Animals, Citizen Science, Nature & Outdoors, Other
Kids and adults both coo at the sight of a crawling caterpillar. We imagine that this hungry caterpillar may flutter past someday as a beautiful butterfly. Caterpillars and other insects with segmented bodies are called arthropods. And scientists need your help with a citizen science project aimed at understanding how these insects’ populations are changing. … Read more “How Counting Caterpillars Can Help Scientists Understand Climate Change”
Categories: Animals, Citizen Science, Ecology & Environment, Insects, Nature & Outdoors
