Project MartinRoost: A Scavenger Hunt in Your Backyard

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 … Read more “Project MartinRoost: A Scavenger Hunt in Your Backyard”

Categories: Birds, Citizen Science, EarthSchool, Project Profile

Wicked Hot Boston: Urban Heat Island (UHI) Mapping

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 … Read more “Wicked Hot Boston: Urban Heat Island (UHI) Mapping”

Categories: Citizen Science, Climate & Weather, Events, Nature & Outdoors, Project Profile, Science Policy, Science Practices

Climate Watch Program

Help Audubon Protect Threatened Birds by Participating in the Climate Watch Program

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 … Read more “Help Audubon Protect Threatened Birds by Participating in the Climate Watch Program”

Categories: Citizen Science, Climate & Weather, EarthSchool, Environment, Project Profile

Antarctic Citizen Scientists

Looking Beneath the Ocean’s Surface with Antarctic Citizen Scientists

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 … Read more “Looking Beneath the Ocean’s Surface with Antarctic Citizen Scientists”

Categories: Animals, Citizen Science, Project Profile

Citizen Science at the Beach

Turning Passion into Protection: Citizen Science at the Beach with the Surfrider Foundation

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 … Read more “Turning Passion into Protection: Citizen Science at the Beach with the Surfrider Foundation”

Categories: Chemistry, Citizen Science, Ecology & Environment, Project Profile

Citizen Science

Sound Justice: Citizen Science, Noise, and the Quest for Equity

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 … Read more “Sound Justice: Citizen Science, Noise, and the Quest for Equity”

Categories: Citizen Science, CitSci Research, Project Profile

Crowd the Tap

Crowd the Tap: Empowering Communities to Examine Their Lead Exposure

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 … Read more “Crowd the Tap: Empowering Communities to Examine Their Lead Exposure”

Categories: Chemistry, Do-It-Yourself, Ecology & Environment, Project Profile

SciStarter Podcast

SciStarter Releases New Podcast Series: Citizen Science

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 … Read more “SciStarter Releases New Podcast Series: Citizen Science”

Categories: About Us, Citizen Science, Citizen Science Day, Project Profile

Slavery from Space: Citizen Science in the Antislavery Movement

Slavery from Space is a citizen science project that allows users to further the antislavery movement by mapping the locations of activities in which people are frequently found to be enslaved. How many slaves do you think there are in the world? You might be surprised. In 2016, the International Labour Organization estimated that 40.3 million people were … Read more “Slavery from Space: Citizen Science in the Antislavery Movement”

Categories: Astronomy & Space, Citizen Science, Project Profile

Mosquito Habitat Mapper

Neighborhood Science with GLOBE Mission Mosquito

Spring is a great time to start using the GLOBE Observer Mosquito Habitat Mapper. Have you noticed any mosquitoes yet? Spring is upon us in the United States, and mosquitoes are already buzzing in many parts of the country. Below is a map that shows the approximate onset of the mosquito season throughout the contiguous … Read more “Neighborhood Science with GLOBE Mission Mosquito”

Categories: Apps, Citizen Science, Citizen Science Day, Climate & Weather, EarthSchool, Environment, Insects, Project Profile