Category: Project Profile

It’s the New Year, and in addition to eating better, exercising regularly, and watching fewer videos of adorable talking porcupines (#STOPTHECUTENESS!), we at SciStarter resolve to make every human (all 7.5 billion of you, as well as your pets) a citizen scientist by the end of 2020…or by 2120 at the latest! In that spirit, […]

Do you want to know more about the world around you? iNaturalist allows anyone, anywhere to contribute to a global record of biodiversity by uploading pictures of plants and animals with their smartphone or computer. In a new podcast episode (listen below!), co-host Justin Schell talks with Dr. Carrie Seltzer, the Stakeholder Engagement Strategist for […]

This post is part of a collaboration between SciStarter and Career in STEM, in which writers spotlight different citizen science projects, interview project leaders about their careers, and create educational content for teachers and students. This series is available on the Science Connected, Career in STEM, SciStarter, and Discover Magazine blog platforms.  Click to jump […]

Want to map extreme heat in your community? Anyone, anywhere can take action with ISeeChange. It’s not just in your head; Boston really is hotter in the summer. When urban areas are warmer than surrounding non-urban environments, we experience a phenomenon called the urban heat island (UHI) effect.  Cities are filled with large amounts of […]

Audubon’s Climate Watch Program needs volunteers to help it spot 12 birds threatened by climate change. Are you in? “Hope is the thing with feathers/ That perches in the soul,” Emily Dickinson wrote. Is there hope for our feathered friends in the era of climate change? Yes, but they need our help. More than 300 […]

Scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography are working with Antarctic tour operators like Hurtigruten to enable vacationers to serve as citizen scientists with the FjordPhyto citizen science project. Travelers collect samples of phytoplankton from Antarctic fjords in an effort to understand the base of the food web, helping scientists learn how one of the most […]

Heading to the beach this weekend? Consider citizen science at the beach by engaging in water quality testing with the Surfrider Foundation. The Surfrider Foundation is a grassroots environmental organization whose mission is to protect and enjoy the world’s ocean, waves, and beaches. Surfrider volunteers work in their communities across the country testing the water […]

At the start of World War I, thousands of soldiers were coming down with a baffling condition: they became blind, deaf, lost their memory, or developed uncontrollable shaking despite no obvious physical injury. Even stranger, this malady could be triggered by memories of the war even after the fighting had ended. At the time, doctors […]

Lead water pipes have been a fixture of modern civilization for more than two thousand years.  Ancient Romans channeled water into homes and bathhouses through lead piping. In fact, the Latin word for lead, plumbum, is where we get the English word “plumbing.” Yet we have also long recognized that lead can have a serious […]

Citizen Science is a podcast from SciStarter. This show spotlights the many different ways that individuals and communities are exploring and changing the world around them through public participation in science. Episodes feature conversations between project developers and volunteers, with subjects ranging from climate change to biodiversity to Alzheimer’s research to community science projects focused […]