Blog: Citizen Science Projects, People, and Perspectives
By Carolyn Graybeal, Sep 01, 2016
Going out of your way to attract mosquitoes seems like the last thing anyone would want to do, but that is exactly what the national Invasive Mosquito Project is hoping volunteers will do in the name of public health. Managed through the United States Department of Agriculture, the Invasive Mosquito Project aims to track the spread of … Read more “Enlisting youth citizen scientists to combat Zika”
Categories: Analyzing and interpreting data, Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering), Biology, Citizen Science, Constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering), Ecology & Environment, Education, Insects, Nature & Outdoors, Planning and carrying out investigations, Project Profile, Science Practices
By Sharman Apt Russell, Aug 17, 2016
Walking through Purisima Creek Redwoods Reserve in northern California, I am the paparazzi of Western sword ferns (Polystichum munitum). When I find one, I stop and click, click, click my smartphone photos and then approach boldly for a closer look. Are new leaves emerging as curled fronds or fiddleheads? Are there round spots called sori—reproductive … Read more “The Lure of the Redwood Forest”
Categories: Citizen Science, Ecology & Environment, Nature & Outdoors, Project Profile
By Eva Lewandowski, Aug 11, 2016
Photo: NPS Celebrate the National Parks with Citizen Science On August 25, the United States National Park Service turns 100! The park system provides many excellent citizen science opportunities to visitors. Below, you’ll find five great national park projects. Find even more projects with the SciStarter Global Project Finder. Cheers! The SciStarter Team
Categories: Apps, Citizen Science, Ecology & Environment, Nature & Outdoors, Newsletter
By Eva Lewandowski, Aug 02, 2016
Photo:USFWS Collectively, your small acts lead to big results. Natural disasters, like earthquakes, tornados, and landslides, are frightening and deadly. There are small, but important, steps citizen scientists can take to help predict and respond to these occurrences.Our editors have selected five exemplary projects, below. Be sure to read the safety warnings when applicable. Find … Read more “Citizen Science takes a bite out of Natural Disasters”
Categories: Apps, Citizen Science, Climate & Weather, Nature & Outdoors, Newsletter
By Caren Cooper, Aug 01, 2016
Fables are fun ways to accept insights into our own lives. Fairy tales are enjoyable ways to inspire hope. Augmented reality games that overlay fantasy directly onto reality are a blast, plus they create a powerful lens to understand ourselves and the world. Citizen science is a lens on the world too. The intersection of … Read more “Augmented Reality in Citizen Science to Connect with Reality”
Categories: Citizen Science, Gaming, Nature & Outdoors, Project Profile
By Catherine Price, Jul 27, 2016
A recent article in the New York Times highlights the way urban environments are affecting evolution in a variety of species. From European blackbirds with high-pitched calls to beat the sound of traffic to spiders adapted to build their webs closer to light poles, the dynamic and harsh urban environment is changing our biodiversity. Citizen scientists are … Read more “Urban Citizen Science”
Categories: Animals, Biology, Citizen Science, Ecology & Environment, Nature & Outdoors, Newsletter
By Guest Contributor, Jul 24, 2016
by Nohra Murad It’s that exciting time of year again: it’s National Moth Week! But not just any National Moth Week. NMW 2016 marks the fifth year that the Friends of the East Brunswick Environmental Commission has run National Moth Week (NMW), a time for citizen scientists to go out moth-ing in their community. This … Read more “National Moth Week is Back!”
Categories: Citizen Science, Events, Insects, Nature & Outdoors
By Jenny Cutraro, Jul 22, 2016
by Jennifer Cutraro By now, you’ve surely seen, heard about, or even joined the hordes of people wandering about outdoors, phones held right in front of their faces. In the two weeks since Pokémon Go’s release, there’s been much ado about the game: how it gets people outdoors, how it promotes physical activity, how it’s … Read more “Poké Around With Citizen Science”
Categories: Animals, Apps, Citizen Science, Ecology & Environment, Gaming, Nature & Outdoors, Other
By Nina Friedman, Jun 25, 2016
In Arizona and the surrounding Southwestern United States, over 400 people are participating in a nine-year ongoing game of tag. But these folks are not tagging each other. They’re actually romping about in meadows with small nets, hoping to catch and tag a Monarch butterfly. In 2003 Chris Kline began the Southwest Monarch Study in order to … Read more “Southwest Monarch Study Taps Citizen Scientists to Track Butterfly Migration”
Categories: Biology, Citizen Science, Ecology & Environment, Nature & Outdoors, Project Profile
By Eva Lewandowski, Jun 23, 2016
Photo: Wendy Caldwell This week we celebrate National Pollinator Week, in honor of the bees, butterflies, beetles, and other animals that provide essential services to ecosystems and agricultural lands everywhere. Citizen science is at the forefront of pollinator research, and below we highlight six projects that you can join to help study and protect pollinators. … Read more “Celebrate Pollinator Week with Citizen Science!”
Categories: Biology, Citizen Science, Ecology & Environment, Nature & Outdoors, Newsletter
