Blog: Citizen Science Projects, People, and Perspectives
By Emily Lewis, Oct 13, 2013
Drag your bones toward more Halloween-themed citizen science. Growing up in the last green valley, I didn’t think too much about light pollution. We always brought flashlights trick-or-treating, and I can remember being afraid to go outside after sunset for fear of what could be hiding in the dark; we could always see the stars. … Read more “Go Lurking in the Dark – Help Scientists Measure Light Pollution with Dark Sky Meter”
Categories: Apps, Astronomy & Space, Ecology & Environment, Nature & Outdoors
By Lily Bui,
Citizen science has its own song! Monty Harper, the musician behind “Citizen Scientist,” needs help from you to compile a slideshow for the piece. If you have photos of you or others participating in citizen science, you can submit them to be included in a slideshow music video for his song! The deadline is November … Read more “Songs From the Citizen Science Frontier”
Categories: Citizen Science, Do-It-Yourself, Science Education Standards
By Jenna Lang, Oct 10, 2013
Drag your bones on over to our favorite, spooky research projects just in time for Halloween. Where is my Spider? Share your photos of spiders. When we understand where spiders are living today, we will be better able to predict what may happen to spiders and agriculture in the future. Get started! Zombee Watch … Read more “Bats, Bones, Zombees! Five macabre citizen science projects for Halloween.”
Categories: Animals, Astronomy & Space, Citizen Science, Ecology & Environment, Insects, Nature & Outdoors
By Melinda T. Hough,
In a technologically savvy, hyper-caffeinated, on-the-go society, it can be nearly impossible to ignore distracting information. With flashing lights to deafening sounds, even our smartphones demand attention. How does the mind sort through these conflicting signals, allowing us to concentrate and process only the most important visual cues? Ignore That! was developed by Dr. Joshua … Read more “Mind Control, Concentration, and Color – Understanding the Stroop Effect”
Categories: Citizen Science, Gaming
By Ian Vorster, Oct 09, 2013
Gamifying citizen science has the potential to engage existing volunteers in new ways, and to attract a new segment of the gaming-set: millennials. Millennials who were born after 1980 are known to be notorious technology enthusiasts. But what would draw, lets say, the average business student or technology major into playing a game that contributes … Read more “Gamifying Citizen Science with Floracaching”
Categories: Citizen Science, Ecology & Environment, Nature & Outdoors
By Norene Griffin, Oct 04, 2013
I’ve never been that great at guessing people’s ages. But I didn’t think much about my lack of ability until I met my husband, who seems to be pretty good at it. That’s why I was intrigued to learn about AgeGuess, a citizen science project and online game that challenges players to accurately guess other … Read more “Does Looking Older Impact Life Expectancy?”
Categories: Citizen Science, Science Education Standards
By Emily Lewis, Oct 03, 2013
It’s likely you never expected to aid cutting edge cancer research by playing computer games, but the makers of NanoDoc are asking citizen scientists to do just that. By designing nanoparticles – tiny clusters that are made up of only tens to thousands of atoms – and running simulations of how they interact in the … Read more “Playing Games for the Cure – Become a NanoDoc and Help Bioengineers Design New Nanomedicine”
Categories: Biology, Citizen Science, Gaming, Health, Science Education Standards
By Carolyn Graybeal, Sep 30, 2013
Pictures, puzzles, and play. Citizen Sort is a collection of interactive games in which players sort and classify photos of unidentified animals. The project is the brain child of researchers at Syracuse University School of Information. The goal is to enable scientists to use pictures of wildlife from the web to help them study changes … Read more “Citizen Sort: Who is in that photo?”
Categories: Animals, Citizen Science, Gaming, Insects
By Ashley R. Kelly, Sep 27, 2013
Human beings are remarkably capable animals when it comes to pattern recognition. The human ability to quickly and accurately recognize recurrent patterns is a skill that numerous citizen science projects have put to work on large, difficult data sets. Galaxy Zoo uses these skills to assist with the morphological classification of galaxies. Pattern recognition and … Read more “Fraxinus to Fight Fungus”
Categories: Apps, Citizen Science, Ecology & Environment, Gaming, Nature & Outdoors
By Jenna Lang,
Tired of watching the kids race home from school just to play video games for hours? One-up them and make a significant contribution to science while YOU play games. (Warning: The kids might like these, too!) EyeWire EyeWire is a citizen science project aimed at mapping the neural connections of the retina. All you have … Read more “Fun and Games Until Someone Maps an Eye (Neuron): Citizen Science Games”
Categories: Citizen Science, Computers & Technology, Gaming, Nature & Outdoors, Newsletter, Science Education Standards
