Blog: Citizen Science Projects, People, and Perspectives
By Rae Moore - Editor, Jun 26, 2014
Help scientists monitor the phytoplankton population in oceans with a secchi disk and the secchi app. Want more marine-themed citizen science projects? We’ve got you covered! Marine ecosystems, like all ecosystems, are made of complex food webs. At the base of the marine food web are the phytoplankton. Phytoplankton are very important, as they are responsible for about … Read more “Secchi App: Tracking Phytoplankton with the Push of a Button [GUEST POST]”
Categories: Citizen Science, Ecology & Environment, Nature & Outdoors, Ocean & Water
By Ian Vorster, Jun 24, 2014
Save the sablefish (also known as black cod) and help scientists by counting the fish in video clips. Want more marine-themed citizen science projects? We’ve got you covered! Scientists call it Anoplopoma fimbria, fishers might know it as the sablefish, while some chefs call it the Black Cod. Found hovering just above the muddy North … Read more “Digital Fishers: Data from the Deep, Judgment from the Crowd”
Categories: Biology, Citizen Science, Ecology & Environment, Ocean & Water
By Sheetal R. Modi, Jun 23, 2014
Citizen scientists can use an iPhone app or online tool to log seahorse sightings to help seahorse conservation. Want more marine-themed citizen science projects? We’ve got you covered! With the head of a horse, the tail of a monkey, and the belly of a kangaroo, seahorses look almost like mythical creatures, and their unique … Read more “See a Seahorse, Save a Seahorse”
Categories: Citizen Science, Ecology & Environment, Nature & Outdoors, Ocean & Water
By Carolyn Graybeal, Jun 18, 2014
This Saturday June 21st, collect samples from bodies of water to catalog the ocean’s microbial biodiversity. Want more marine-themed citizen science projects? We’ve got you covered! This Saturday June 21st, citizen scientists will be able to take part in MyOSD (official site) the citizen science component to this year’s Ocean Sampling Day (OSD). The event is … Read more “Ocean Sampling Day – Cataloging the Diversity of Microbes in Our Oceans”
Categories: Biology, Ecology & Environment, Nature & Outdoors, Ocean & Water
By Jenna Lang, Jun 09, 2014
We’ve waded through our database and come up with a boatload of marine-themed citizen science projects! Dive in! Also, don’t forget to stop by DISCOVER Magazine and SciStarter’s online Citizen Science Salon; look for our new collaboration in the pages of Discover; or listen to beautifully produced citizen science stories from our partners at WHYY … Read more “Ahoy, Citizen Scientists!”
Categories: Biology, Citizen Science, Ecology & Environment, Nature & Outdoors, Ocean & Water
By Lily Bui, Apr 08, 2014
Thames Valley Sewer System overwhelmed and instrumentation destroyed, how you can contribute to water monitoring with citizen science. Flooding is not just a problem for residents and local businesses; it is also a major issue for the UK’s water companies. Throughout the closing months of 2013 and the start of the current year, England was … Read more “UK Flooding – And What You Can Do About It [GUEST POST]”
Categories: Guest Contributor, Ocean & Water
By Karen McDonald, Mar 06, 2014
Citizen Science in the Classroom and the Phytoplankton Monitoring Network NOAA National Ocean Service Phytoplankton Monitoring Network Citizen Science Project to Meet Common Core and Next Generation Teaching Standards Grades: 1st-12th (*see notes below about elementary grades) Description: The Phytoplankton Monitoring Network (PMN) is hosted through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA). … Read more “Citizen Science in the Classroom Series: Phytoplankton Monitoring Network”
Categories: Analyzing and interpreting data, Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering), Citizen Science, Constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering), Developing and using models, Engaging in argument from evidence, Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information, Ocean & Water, Planning and carrying out investigations, Science Practices, Using mathematics and computational thinking
By Lily Bui, Feb 25, 2014
The story of a nuclear disaster and what can do you as a citizen scientist to help assess the residual aftermath. [In the news – KQED Science recently spoke to project organizer Ken Buessler about the radiation in our ocean.] Three years ago on March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami shook Japan. The … Read more “Your Radionuclides and You: Citizen Scientists Can Help Monitor Fukushima Radioactivity”
Categories: Citizen Science, In the News, Ocean & Water
By Arvind Suresh, Feb 19, 2014
Public Lab’s DIY spectrometry kit makes it possible for citizen scientists to do their own spectrometric analysis at home. Come to your senses! SciStarter has curated a list of citizen science projects for all five senses. Spectrometry. Listen to yourself say it out loud. Admit it. It sounds cool just to say “spectrometry.”(Whoa you … Read more “Spec-tacular Science: Use Public Lab’s DIY Spectrometer to find out what stuff is made of!”
Categories: Apps, Biology, Chemistry, Citizen Science, Computers & Technology, Ecology & Environment, Ocean & Water
By Lily Bui, Feb 05, 2014
Public Lab announces RIFFLE, a new pilot program and open sensor tool to monitor water quality of Mystic River in Massachusetts. By definition, a riffle is a “short, relatively shallow and coarse-bedded length of stream over which the stream flows at higher velocity and higher turbulence than it normally does in comparison to a pool.” Similarly, Public … Read more “The RIFFLE Effect: Public Lab’s New Pilot Water Monitoring Sensor Tool”
Categories: Citizen Science, Ocean & Water, Science Policy