Image of shark on reef with small, colorful reef fish.

Tracking Sharks and Listening to Rays

Sharks get a lot more attention than, say, sea cucumbers, possibly because sharks tend to have much bigger teeth. They even get their own week! (note to Discovery Channel: please find room for Sea Cucumber Week). And yet, as marine scientist and shark expert David Shiffman points out, scientists are still discovering new things about … Read more “Tracking Sharks and Listening to Rays”

Categories: Animals, Biology, Citizen Science, Ecology & Environment, Nature & Outdoors, Ocean & Water

Four photos of different squirrel species and the SciStarter logo.

Go nuts with these 5 squirrel-themed citizen science projects

Squirrels are fantastic creatures that live all over the world, including your backyard! These floofy-tailed creatures are more than adorable (and sometimes annoying) creatures — they’re actually perfect models to study evolution, species conservation and habitats (like woodpecker cavities). Your local squirrel observations are needed for research questions like these and more. Find out how … Read more “Go nuts with these 5 squirrel-themed citizen science projects”

Categories: Newsletter

How to Make the Most of SciStarter (As a Citizen Scientist, Project Leader or Educator)

SciStarter is more than just a place for you to find or share opportunities to turn curiosity into impact. Whether you’re a volunteer looking for new projects to try out, the leader of a project seeking participants or a facilitator who wants to introduce citizen science to your community, we’ve got you covered! For Citizen … Read more “How to Make the Most of SciStarter (As a Citizen Scientist, Project Leader or Educator)”

Categories: About Us, Affiliate Tools

The SciStarter logo overlaid on an image from deep space.

5 Out-Of-This-World Citizen Science Opportunities

With the arrival of the solstice, the nights are at their shortest, but they’re also nice and warm for summer stargazing and space-related citizen science! Put your eyes to good use with these astronomy projects on SciStarter. You won’t need any special knowledge, or even special tools for most of them! Report night sky streaks from satellites overhead to … Read more “5 Out-Of-This-World Citizen Science Opportunities”

Categories: Featured Projects

NASA GLOBE Observer is Celebrating this Summer!

At NASA GLOBE Clouds, our science team uses observations from citizen scientists like you to help us better understand the data our satellites collect. Using the GLOBE Observer app, volunteers send us observations of clouds taken while a satellite is overhead, which we then compare to our satellite measurements of the same clouds. In just … Read more “NASA GLOBE Observer is Celebrating this Summer!”

Categories: Climate & Weather

Diving into Citizen Science: Surfrider Volunteers Protect Public Health at the Beach

The Surfrider Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of the world’s ocean, waves and beaches, for all people, through a powerful activist network. From testing our coastal waters to ensuring that runoff stays in your garden to reducing plastic pollution, Surfrider’s programs help ensure that our marine ecosystems are protected. … Read more “Diving into Citizen Science: Surfrider Volunteers Protect Public Health at the Beach”

Categories: Environment, Nature & Outdoors

Get Involved With NASA Citizen Science This Summer!

Researchers can accomplish amazing things with data from satellites — they can study clouds and climate, forests and land use change and even bird migrations. But with so much satellite data, it can be hard to match up measurements from the sky above with information from the ground. That’s why NASA launched GLOBE, the Global … Read more “Get Involved With NASA Citizen Science This Summer!”

Categories: Newsletter

Top 7 Citizen Science Problems (And How to Solve Them)

Lost your smartphone? Rabbits eating all your sunflowers? Can’t seem to find opportunities right for you? Sometimes doing citizen science can bring some unexpected problems. But take heart — whatever challenge you’re facing, you’re likely not the first one to deal with it.  We surveyed SciStarter’s users about the problems they’ve encountered while trying to … Read more “Top 7 Citizen Science Problems (And How to Solve Them)”

Categories: Animals, Citizen Science, Climate & Weather, Other