Blog: Citizen Science Projects, People, and Perspectives
Erin Canter found her way to the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont, in eastern Tennessee, from what she describes as a very “stereotypical science” background: white coat, gloves, sequencing DNA in a lab. But “that didn’t quite do it for me,” she says. After six months spent mostly outdoors living in a tent while … Read more “Exploring Biodiversity in Great Smoky Mountains National Park”
Categories: Biology, Environment
The Girl Scout Tree Promise is an ambitious effort to plant, protect and honor 5 million trees across the country in five years. Anyone, anywhere can join this global movement to address climate change, one tree at a time! Here’s how: (Optional) Plant a tree and record your good deed on the Girl Scout Tree … Read more “These Fall Projects Let Anyone Protect and Study the Trees Around Us”
Categories: Environment
Summer is still here in the Northern Hemisphere and many people are maximizing time spent outdoors as they enjoy the season’s sunshine and temperate weather. In this piece, we share citizen science summer opportunities tailored for our friends to the north, the Great North: Canada! Canada is home to numerous citizen science organizations and opportunities … Read more “A Canadian Summer of Science”
Categories: Animals, Bats, Birds, Citizen Science, Ecology & Environment, Environment, Nature & Outdoors
Anyone, anywhere, at any time can turn their curiosity about nature into real-world impact by volunteering online with citizen science. Caroline Nickerson, Miss Louisiana Earth, is hosting an online challenge with SciStarter, Cartoscope, Healthy Gulf and Northeastern University for the general public from August 1 – August 14 to volunteer online and map land loss. … Read more “Miss Louisiana Earth Invites You to Volunteer Online & Map Where Vital Wetlands Are Being Lost”
Categories: Citizen Science, Climate & Weather, Environment
Wicked high tides, also known as king tides or astronomical high tides, are a natural phenomenon that occur several times a year in certain areas around the globe. In the Boston area, these events usually happen in March and October. This is when there is a full or new moon, and the Earth, Sun and … Read more “Wicked High Tides: Citizen Scientists Plan for Sea-Level Rise”
Categories: Citizen Science, Climate & Weather, Environment
Along Louisiana’s Gulf Coast, the Mississippi River Delta boasts one of the largest and most productive ecosystems on Earth. Every year, the delta provides some $12 to 47 billion in benefits to locals and beyond in the form of hurricane and flood protection, fisheries, recreation, water supply, water quality, and more. As if that weren’t … Read more “Louisiana’s Wetlands are Vanishing. Researchers Need Your Help Tracking the Loss”
Categories: Environment
Welcome Fall with Nature’s Notebook and the Timberland Regional Library in Washington State for an event focused on documenting signs of seasonal change. Nature’s Notebook is a citizen science project that studies phenology, the study of seasons. Changes in phenological events, like flowering and animal migration, are among the most sensitive biological responses to climate … Read more “Signs of Fall with Nature’s Notebook”
Categories: Environment, Events, libraries
This post was originally published as a SciStarter newsletter. Sign up to receive bi-weekly citizen science in your inbox! Earth’s climate is undergoing change that poses multiple threats. The science community seeks your help in tracking four emerging climate hazards: sea-level rise, extreme temperatures, droughts and floods. Your safety always comes first. Please only participate in … Read more “Track Four Emerging Climate Hazards Near You”
Categories: Climate & Weather, Environment, Nature & Outdoors, Newsletter
This post was originally published as a SciStarter newsletter. Sign up to receive bi-weekly citizen science in your inbox! As we approach the Dog Days of Summer, Sirius, the dog star, makes its appearance in the northern hemisphere, bringing scorching heat, fever, mad dogs and bad luck. So it’s only sensible to take our CitSci activities … Read more “Dive Into Summer Citizen Science”
Categories: Citizen Science, Environment, Newsletter, Ocean & Water
A few years ago, Alvaro Antonio Vanegas, a software engineer and avid cyclist, got tired of the air pollution problems in his hometown of Bogota, Colombia. He decided to join forces with an activist already researching the problem, Daniel Bernal, who he’d heard was building his own rudimentary air quality sensors and using them to … Read more “Can This Cheap, DIY Pollution Sensor Help the World Get Clean Air?”
Categories: Citizen Science, Environment
