Blog: Citizen Science Projects, People, and Perspectives
From moon monitoring to stargazing to salamander sleuthing, SciStarter brings you citizen science projects you can do in the dark. GLOBE at Night Within a couple of generations in the U.S., only the national parks will have dark enough skies to see the Milky Way. Light pollution disrupts the habits of animals and wastes energy … Read more “Citizen Science… After Hours”
Categories: Apps, Astronomy & Space, Biology
NoiseTube allows citizen scientists to monitor noise pollution with a mobile app. Come to your senses! SciStarter has curated a list of projects for all 5 senses. I was overjoyed the first time I heard the peaceful fountain, twittering bird song, and gentle rustle of wind through the trees oustide my office window. Then, one … Read more “Recording The Noise Scape of Your Life with NoiseTube”
Categories: Apps, Citizen Science, Do-It-Yourself
Public Lab’s DIY spectrometry kit makes it possible for citizen scientists to do their own spectrometric analysis at home. Come to your senses! SciStarter has curated a list of citizen science projects for all five senses. Spectrometry. Listen to yourself say it out loud. Admit it. It sounds cool just to say “spectrometry.”(Whoa you … Read more “Spec-tacular Science: Use Public Lab’s DIY Spectrometer to find out what stuff is made of!”
Categories: Apps, Biology, Chemistry, Citizen Science, Computers & Technology, Ecology & Environment, Ocean & Water
Here are several new citizen science apps to snazzy up your smartphone. These apps are products of Cyber Citizen, a National Science Foundation-funded research project at Michigan Tech. Cyber Citizen focuses on developing mobile and web-based tools to facilitate citizen participation in scientist-led environmental and social research projects, explains Dr. Robert Pastel assistant professor of … Read more “Cyber Citizen – New Citizen Science Apps for Your Phone”
Categories: Apps, CitSci Research, Computers & Technology
Dig into even more Thanksgiving projects with your friends and family! Imagine: After months of treacherous sailing across the open ocean, skirting coral reefs and rocky shores, you alight upon lush tropical islands greeted by enticing aromas, unknown species, and a symphony of bird song… Four years into her circumnavigation of the globe, the HMS … Read more “Exploring the Biodiversity of the Galapagos Islands As “Darwin for a Day””
Categories: Animals, Apps, Biology, Birds, Citizen Science, Ecology & Environment, Nature & Outdoors
Recently researchers at Michigan State University have been turning their attention to how we study plant photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is the biological process by which plants and algae convert light into storable energy for growth and survival. Quantifying photosynthesis levels can reveal a lot about plant health. For example how efficient is the plant in capturing … Read more “Photosynq: Plugging into Photosynthesis”
Categories: Apps, Biology, Citizen Science, CitSci Research, Computers & Technology
Drag your bones toward more Halloween-themed citizen science. Growing up in the last green valley, I didn’t think too much about light pollution. We always brought flashlights trick-or-treating, and I can remember being afraid to go outside after sunset for fear of what could be hiding in the dark; we could always see the stars. … Read more “Go Lurking in the Dark – Help Scientists Measure Light Pollution with Dark Sky Meter”
Categories: Apps, Astronomy & Space, Ecology & Environment, Nature & Outdoors
Human beings are remarkably capable animals when it comes to pattern recognition. The human ability to quickly and accurately recognize recurrent patterns is a skill that numerous citizen science projects have put to work on large, difficult data sets. Galaxy Zoo uses these skills to assist with the morphological classification of galaxies. Pattern recognition and … Read more “Fraxinus to Fight Fungus”
Categories: Apps, Citizen Science, Ecology & Environment, Gaming, Nature & Outdoors
This post is part of this week’s featured projects about other tree projects. Branch out into citizen science and take a look! Standing among Redwood trees is truly a humbling experience – driving amidst these giants of the plant kingdom, I couldn’t help imagining I had time-travelled back to Earth’s Mesozoic Era when dinosaurs roamed … Read more “From the Redwoods Forest to the Gulf Stream Waters: Mapping Redwoods Helps Conservation Efforts”
Categories: Apps, Citizen Science, Climate & Weather, Ecology & Environment, Nature & Outdoors
This post is part of this week’s featured projects about water quality monitoring. Take a look! Despite over 70% of the Earth’s surface being covered in water, one in nine people do not have access to an improved water source.(1) Contaminated water kills more people than all wars, crimes and terrorism combined yet more people … Read more “A Picture Saves 1,000 Streams – Water Quality Monitoring on Your Smartphone”
Categories: Apps, Citizen Science, Climate & Weather, Ecology & Environment, Nature & Outdoors, Ocean & Water
