Blog: Citizen Science Projects, People, and Perspectives
By Lily Bui, Sep 28, 2012
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
By Lily Bui, Sep 27, 2012
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
By Peter Madden, Sep 18, 2012
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
By Peter Madden, Sep 10, 2012
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
By Peter Madden, Aug 29, 2012
As Hurricane Isaac makes landfall this morning, testing the infrastructure improvements following Hurricane Katrina, our thoughts are with the people of New Orleans for their continued safety. For weeks, scientists around the country have been studying the storm, tracking his progress and predicting his direction. With only a rain gauge, you can help them better … Read more “Help Track That Hurricane”
Categories: Citizen Science, Climate & Weather, Ecology & Environment, In the News, Nature & Outdoors, Science Education Standards
By Peter Madden, Aug 22, 2012
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
By Peter Madden, Aug 16, 2012
You might not realize it, but it’s always out there. Planning. Growing. Waiting for the perfect time to strike. You never quite know when it will happen. Maybe July. Maybe August. But you know it’s coming, and you can’t escape it. In an awesome display of speed and power, it bursts from an otherwise calm … Read more “Celebrate Shark Week with Some Citizen Science”
Categories: Animals, Biology, Citizen Science, Ecology & Environment, Nature & Outdoors, Ocean & Water
By Lily Bui, Aug 05, 2012
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
By Lily Bui, Jul 30, 2012
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
By Peter Madden, Jul 19, 2012
The U.S. Geological Survey invites citizen scientists to send information about landslides in their neighborhoods to the Landslide Hazards Program for inclusion in their national database. … Read more
Categories: Citizen Science, Climate & Weather, Computers & Technology, Geology & Earth Sciences, Nature & Outdoors, Science Education Standards