I believe that citizen science is about citizenship as well as science. By this, I don’t mean citizenship in a specific country, but in a larger community. As a citizen scientist focusing on the natural world, I become a better citizen of that world—the world of tree frogs, say, or hummingbirds or dragonflies. Citizen science makes […]

  SciStarter and Arizona State University hosted change-makers from both the citizen science and maker movements at last week’s first-ever Citizen Science Makers Summit. These two movements both aim to disrupt the status quo of science by changing who participates in the scientific process. “Makers just dive in and create creative engineering solutions” says Darlene […]

Are you looking for something to make you shudder this Halloween? You can skip the scary movies and the frightening costumes. We’ve got projects that are creepy, slimy, scary, and above all else fun!  Below, we’ve highlighted five spooky projects to help you celebrate Halloween. Find more with the Scistarter Project Finder. Cheers! The SciStarter […]

Carl Sandburg Home National Historical Site stretches over 246 rolling acres in Flat Rock, N.C. The writer and poet Sandburg moved to the property in 1945 for the solitude the natural landscape provides. Today, it is a place where nature, science, and creativity intertwine. Five miles of trails meander throughout the site – some leisurely […]

November 5th, 2016 10am-4pm AT&T Park FREE ADMISSION Join SciStarter at the Bay Area Science Festival this November! This free festival will be packed with science enthusiasts. Come to explore hundreds of hands-on activities, opportunities to meet local scientists and engineers, plus fun and educational entertainment. Find SciStarter to learn about citizen science projects you can do in […]

What if you had access to air quality data — minute-by- minute — from hundreds of locations in your community at the same time? How would you manage that data– and how would you share it with your local residents? The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is offering two communities $40,000 each to help figure that out. Currently, environmental […]

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (U.S. GAO) is the investigative arm of Congress charged with examining matters relating to the receipt and payment of public funds. Today, the GAO published a new report to advise how the federal government can better engage citizens. Expert and Citizen Assessment of Science and Technology (ECAST) is cited as […]

If you can see this, you can advance scientific research right now! Below, our editors highlight five, digital citizen science projects you can do online now!  Find more with the Scistarter Project Finder. Cheers! The SciStarter Team

We tend to think of famine in human terms. But animal populations also experience wide-spread hunger, and the hundreds of emaciated young seals and sea lions stranded on California beaches in the past year were a poignant example. Fortunately, a large team of citizen scientists at The Marine Mammal Center—an animal hospital and research institute […]

For the past seven years, citizen scientist volunteers with the Kaua’i chapter of the Surfrider Foundation Beach Watch Task Force have been testing the waters at 27 recreational sites along the Kaua’i coastline. This summer they achieved a victory when the Hawai’i Department of Health (HDOH) finally acknowledged the concerning levels of pollution in local […]