Final Four citizen science projects!

This post originally appeared on the PLOS Blog Network. We’re down to the Final Four in this year’s NCAA tournament, and chances are your bracket isn’t looking too good. Welcome to the club. Worry not! We’ve got four citizen science projects that will help you make the most of Final Four weekend. MICHIGAN WOLVERINES fans… … Read more “Final Four citizen science projects!”

Categories: Animals, Astronomy & Space, Biology, Birds, CitSci Research, Climate & Weather, Contest, Insects

The Brain Mapping Games: May the Odds Be Ever in Our Favor

Imagine something more mysterious than the trenches of the deep sea, more convoluted than the intricacies of the human genetic code, possibly even more infinite than the vastness of outer space. Meet the human brain. Memories, mental disorders, language capability, motor skills, and so much more are encoded in this singular organ. Yet, neuroscientists don’t … Read more “The Brain Mapping Games: May the Odds Be Ever in Our Favor”

Categories: Biology, Citizen Science, Computers & Technology, Gaming

Christmas Bird Count takes flight

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

A Citizen Science Project That Will Make You LOL

“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

Become a Bat Detective

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

Are you up to the (water) challenge, today?

When you wake up in the morning and start your daily routine—take a shower, brush your teeth, cook breakfast—do you ever stop to wonder where all that water you’re using comes from? It’s availability (or lack thereof) is certainly not a common worry in the United States, where as of 2005 (the latest assessment of … Read more “Are you up to the (water) challenge, today?”

Categories: Biology, Citizen Science, Contest, Do-It-Yourself, Ecology & Environment, Health, Nature & Outdoors, Ocean & Water, Science Education Standards

Citizen Scientists Go Back to School

It happens every year, and you’re right: it’s just not fair. After nearly three months of uninterrupted fun, gone are the barbeques, ball games and pool parties that dominated the summer schedule just as Labor Day signals the sudden arrival of the shorter, colder, and more structured days of the school year. But before you … Read more “Citizen Scientists Go Back to School”

Categories: Animals, Astronomy & Space, Biology, Citizen Science, Climate & Weather, Do-It-Yourself, Ecology & Environment, Insects, Nature & Outdoors, Science Education Standards, Workshops

BioBlitz: Explore the National Parks with National Geographic

Attention all backyard explorers and rosebush whackers: this is the opportunity you’ve been waiting for. Your days of leading patient parents on perilous neighborhood expeditions are over. Put down that “machete.” Stop mushing the dog. Grab your merit badges. The big leagues are calling, and they want you on their next adventure! This Friday, August … Read more “BioBlitz: Explore the National Parks with National Geographic”

Categories: Animals, Biology, Birds, Citizen Science, Ecology & Environment, Education, Insects, Nature & Outdoors, Science Education Standards, Workshops