Blog: Citizen Science Projects, People, and Perspectives
By John Ohab, Apr 08, 2010
It’s springtime in our Nation’s Capital, and one of my favorite organizations, Casey Trees, is enlisting community volunteers to help restore the tree population one tree at a time. Casey Trees specially trains local volunteers, known as “citizen foresters”, to lead groups of community tree planters and build awareness about the importance of urban forests. … Read more “Restore urban forests with Casey Trees”
Categories: Ecology & Environment, Geology & Earth Sciences, Nature & Outdoors
By John Ohab, Apr 02, 2010
You know an organization is serious about science when they dedicate 15 years to a research project. Well, that’s exactly what the Seattle Aquarium is doing with their citizen science program — a fifteen year program to characterize and study the habitats of seven Seattle-area beaches. At the heart of the program are teams of citizen science-trained high school … Read more “The Seattle Aquarium knows their citizen science”
Categories: Animals, Ecology & Environment, Nature & Outdoors, Ocean & Water, Science Education Standards
By John Ohab, Mar 28, 2010
Jellyfish, in addition to being one of many ocean creatures that terrify me, are an important part of the underwater ecosystem. However, several reports have indicated an unusually high increase in Jellyfish populations, and scientists are in need of help to understand why. Enter JellyWatch, a new citizen science project that aims to create a database of jellyfish … Read more “Tracking Jellyfish around the globe”
Categories: Animals, Ecology & Environment, Ocean & Water
By Michael Gold, Mar 27, 2010
You might say this post misses the boat. It’s about citizen scientists who monitor water quality—and World Water Day was last week. But the remarkable thing about these volunteers is that they never stop. They work all year round and nearly around the clock to keep our rivers, streams, and lakes healthy. Now I know … Read more “Valiant volunteers watch out for our water”
Categories: Biology, Chemistry, Citizen Science, Ecology & Environment, Nature & Outdoors, Ocean & Water
By Darlene Cavalier, Mar 22, 2010
Before I headed to Austin, TX last week for the SXSW music, film, and interactive conference (I helped put together a panel discussion there on the Future of Gaming for Discover Magazine and the National Science Foundation), I Googled “citizen science in Austin” and came upon the Texas Beewatchers. The organizer of this citizen science … Read more “What’s all the buzz about bees?”
Categories: Citizen Science, Ecology & Environment, Insects, Nature & Outdoors
By Susan West, Mar 19, 2010
Monarch butterflies need our help! The regal butterflies, hit hard by the torrential February rains in Mexico, are at their lowest population levels since 1975, according to Chip Taylor, director of Monarch Watch at the University of Kansas. The storms killed 50 to 60 percent of the breeding colonies in northern Mexico; the butterfly population … Read more “Help needed: monarch butterflies in trouble”
Categories: Ecology & Environment, Insects, Nature & Outdoors
By Darlene Cavalier, Jan 31, 2010
Just back from a visit to Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Lab. Fascinating developments taking place there, not the least of which includes a number of citizen science initiatives! First up: ChargeCar! This project, part of a series of community-based applied research activities coming out of CMU’s CommunityRobotics.org, is asking you to share your daily commute … Read more “Help researchers tailor electric vehicle solutions (based on YOUR commute).”
Categories: Citizen Science, Ecology & Environment
