Blog: Citizen Science Projects, People, and Perspectives
By Lily Bui, Jun 27, 2013
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is on a new mission: to encourage citizen scientists to learn more about the air, water, and resources around them. Earlier this year, the EPA’s Region 2 office announced its newest tool, MyEnvironment. This project provides immediate access to a cross-section of environmental data for any geographical location in the … Read more “On Air: The EPA’s Brand New Citizen Science Tool”
Categories: Citizen Science, Ecology & Environment
By Darlene Cavalier, Jun 02, 2013
This post originally appeared on Your Wildlife and was reposted with the permission of the author, Holly Menninger. Over the last few weeks, we’ve watched and envied reports and photos coming from those of you living within the emergence zone of Brood II 17-year periodical cicadas (from Georgia to Connecticut). We even traveled westward to … Read more “Buzzing about cicadas:Your Wildlife is launching a new project!”
Categories: Climate & Weather, Ecology & Environment, Guest Contributor, Insects, Nature & Outdoors
By Darlene Cavalier, Jan 20, 2013
SciStarter asked Craig Newmark (of Craigslist fame) why he likes squirrels. He told us that it all started with a simple desire to feed birds. But the suet palaces he was using to dispense the raw, fat-based bird food were constantly getting hacked by squirrels. He tried everything; he even upgraded to “squirrel-resistant” models, to … Read more “On this, National Squirrel Day, we feature Craig Newmark and squirrelly citizen science.”
Categories: Animals, Citizen Science, Climate & Weather, Contest, Ecology & Environment, Guest Contributor, Nature & Outdoors
By Lily Bui, Dec 17, 2012
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
By Lily Bui, Oct 29, 2012
With Hurricane Sandy looming large, weather’s the nation’s top news story. In case you’re at home sitting out the storm like the bulk of the SciStarter team, we’ve got you covered (no pun intended) with plenty of weather-related citizen science opportunities to help researchers and advance science. Bonus: here’s a weather-appropriate, musical supplement to your … Read more “It’s Raining, It’s Pouring, But You Won’t Be Snoring: Weather-Related Citizen Science Projects!”
Categories: Citizen Science, Climate & Weather, Ecology & Environment, Geology & Earth Sciences, Nature & Outdoors, Ocean & Water
By Lily Bui, Oct 01, 2012
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
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
