Blog: Citizen Science Projects, People, and Perspectives
By Nathaniel Scharping, Jan 29, 2021
Sometimes the old methods truly are the best methods. When astronomer Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto in 1930, it was the result of countless hours spent straining his eyes at a machine called a blink comparator. Using it, Tombaugh could flip rapidly back and forth between two images of the night sky taken at slightly different … Read more “Citizen Scientists Have Found Dozens of ‘Failed Stars’ Near Earth”
Categories: Astronomy & Space, Other
By Eric Betz, Dec 23, 2020
Every year around Christmas time, tens of thousands of volunteer birdwatchers gather in familiar locations across the Western Hemisphere for a tradition that dates back more than a century. On select days between December 14 and January 5, volunteers with the National Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Count take a census of every bird they see … Read more “How a Christmas Tradition has Helped Track Billions of Vanishing Birds”
Categories: Animals, Other
By Shruthi Manjunath, Dec 08, 2020
In today’s world, computers both big and small produce vast volumes of data in record time — millions of trillions of bytes worth. It’s so much information that researchers can’t properly analyze all the data produced, and the overload can also lead computers to make mistakes. That’s why researchers are increasingly turning to citizen scientists … Read more “How Playing Science Games is Advancing Genetic Research”
Categories: Gaming, Other
By Molly Schools, Dec 04, 2020
Air quality impacts our health, our quality of life and even the length of our lives. Most people don’t think about what’s in the air they breathe — but perhaps they should. That’s the driving force behind the Pakistan Air Quality Initiative. The citizen science project wants to let people know what’s in their air. … Read more “How One Person in Pakistan Made a Difference for Air Quality”
Categories: Ecology & Environment, Other
By Caroline Nickerson, Oct 28, 2020
April 2021 is Global Citizen Science Month, and SciStarter, the National Library of Medicine, Arizona State University, the Citizen Science Association and many other partners from around the world provide free resources, support and an event calendar to help you plan and promote your event. I’m Caroline Nickerson, SciStarter’s Program Manager for Global Citizen Science … Read more “Planning Citizen Science Month 2021: April”
Categories: Citizen Science Month, Other
By Eric Betz, Sep 04, 2020
Around the world, millions of kids are headed back to school in a totally different way. Classes are online. Teachers talk to students in virtual classrooms. And parents are often left looking for new, hands-on science learning opportunities. We’ve got your back. Here are eight fun and easy science experiments that you can do at … Read more “8 Fun Science Experiments You Can Easily do at Home”
Categories: Education, Other
By Eric Betz, Jun 19, 2020
Deja Perkins loved animals growing up. And by the time she left her native Chicago to attend Tuskegee University in Alabama, she wanted to become a veterinarian, often the only animal-related career introduced to people of color, she says. But it didn’t take long before Perkins realized she’d rather study animals in the natural world. … Read more “#BlackInNature: How Young Scientists are Pushing for Equality”
Categories: Birds, Citizen Science, Nature & Outdoors, Other
By Peregrine Bratschi, Max Cawley, and Erin McKenney, Jun 16, 2020
By now, you’ve almost certainly heard the news: Homemade sourdough is the greatest thing since, well, sliced bread. Being stuck in quarantine gives many of us more time to do things around the house, like baking. And stores are short on household staples, including bread, so, sure, might as well give breadmaking a try. But why sourdough … Read more “The Science of Making a Wild Sourdough Starter”
Categories: Biology, Citizen Science, Other
By SciStarter Team, May 26, 2020
Today, over 1.5 billion children are unable to go to school. Beyond public health and the economy, coronavirus is disrupting how we engage and educate younger generations — and a group of global environmental education experts have started a program to help. TED Education, The United Nations Environmental Programme and many other partners launched Earth … Read more “Kids at Home? Earth School Wants to Send Them on a Nature ‘Quest’”
Categories: Citizen Science, Nature & Outdoors, Other
By Andrea Dautant, May 21, 2020
Plastic pollution in our oceans is a major, on-going global crisis. Researchers estimate that 8 million tons of plastic end up in the ocean every year. Much of the plastic is dumped carelessly, on land or in rivers, and then carried or blown into the sea. Nearly 700 species, including endangered ones, are already known … Read more “To Fight Plastic Pollution, These Researchers Want Your Pictures of Beach Trash”
Categories: Animals, Citizen Science, Nature & Outdoors, Other
