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 Kristin Butler, Aug 03, 2016
Have you ever glanced up at the night sky, at just the right moment, and seen a streak of bright light dart across the heavens and disappear? The next time you do, instead of making a wish upon the “shooting star” (or maybe just after making your wish), consider reporting your observation to the American … Read more “Meteor Hunters Track Fireballs in the Night Sky”
Categories: Citizen Science, Project Profile
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 Kristin Butler, Jul 20, 2016
Recently I attended a lecture by award-winning astronomy professor Dr. Andrew Fraknoi, who spoke about the most exciting research happening in astronomy today. He said that while black holes and gravity waves are interesting, the research he finds most intriguing is the search for planets in other solar systems, called exoplanets. What sets exoplanet research apart, … Read more “Are We Alone? Citizen Science and the Search for Exoplanets”
Categories: Citizen Science, Physics, Project Profile
By Guest Contributor, Jul 01, 2016
Guest post by Mike Bear The San Diego-based non-profit Ocean Sanctuaries was founded in 2014 to create and provide support for marine citizen science projects. The Sevengill Shark Identification Project was one of its first citizen science projects, begun in 2010 in response to anecdotal evidence that divers were seeing increasing numbers Sevengill sharks off … Read more “Using Citizen Science to Track Sevengill Sharks”
Categories: Citizen Science, Guest Contributor, Project Profile
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 04, 2016
Citizen scientists in Wisconsin are helping bat conservation efforts by conducting night time acoustic monitoring using special handheld bat detectors … Read more
Categories: Animals, Bats, Citizen Science, Ecology & Environment, Project Profile
By Guest Contributor, Jun 01, 2016
Autoimmune Citizen Science is an app to help people with autoimmune diseases track their symptoms, lab tests, and treatments in order to see what’s working and what isn’t. Individual data is aggregated in order to see what’s working for the community as a whole. Check out the project on SciStarter and sign up for the … Read more “Autoimmune Diseases Affect Millions of Americans: Here’s How Citizen Science Can Help”
Categories: Apps, Biology, Citizen Science, Computers & Technology, Guest Contributor, Project Profile
By Guest Contributor, May 04, 2016
Help researchers monitor and understand light pollution with a simple smartphone app … Read more
Categories: Apps, Astronomy & Space, Citizen Science, Ecology & Environment, Guest Contributor, Project Profile
