Meet the Partners Hiking 17,000 Miles for Citizen Science and the Environment

On June 21, 2019, Sonya Richmond and Sean Morton took the first steps on an odyssey that would take them across the second-largest country on Earth. The duo is currently in the middle of a quest to walk the entirety of the Trans Canada Trail, a network of paths that stretches for thousands of miles … Read more “Meet the Partners Hiking 17,000 Miles for Citizen Science and the Environment”

Categories: Ecology & Environment, Nature & Outdoors

How a Christmas Tradition has Helped Track Billions of Vanishing Birds

Every year around Christmas time, tens of thousands of volunteer birdwatchers gather in familiar locations across the Western Hemisphere for a tradition that dates back more than a century. On select days between December 14 and January 5, volunteers with the National Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Count take a census of every bird they see … Read more “How a Christmas Tradition has Helped Track Billions of Vanishing Birds”

Categories: Animals, Other

Watching plants with Project Budburst

Guest Post by Sarah Jones Learn more about Budburst on SciStarter. Link to https://scistarter.org/budburst Join Communities Across the World in Observing Plant Life Cycles – Any Plant, Any Place, Any Time! I haven’t always loved plants. I loved the animals that took shelter in branches, eating leaves and fruits. I loved the lake surrounded by trees … Read more “Watching plants with Project Budburst”

Categories: Biology, Citizen Science, Climate & Weather, Ecology & Environment, Nature & Outdoors

Radar is Revolutionizing the Study of Migrations, but Researchers Need Birdwatchers’ Help

For many of us, the sound of fall is defined by honking geese overhead and the calls of familiar songbirds in our yards. Every year, billions of birds, bats and insects take to the air in an ancient migration that leads them from the northern reaches of our continent to more temperate climates in the … Read more “Radar is Revolutionizing the Study of Migrations, but Researchers Need Birdwatchers’ Help”

Categories: Animals

How Old Family Fishing Photos Unlock the History of Atlantic Fisheries

Rusty Hudson grew up on the salt-laden docks of Daytona Beach, Florida. As a third-generation fisherman, he naturally took to the industry. When he was just 9 years old, Hudson started his first job as a bait boy aboard the Mako, a charter boat owned by his grandfather, Captain Jake Stone. By the late 1960s, … Read more “How Old Family Fishing Photos Unlock the History of Atlantic Fisheries”

Categories: Biology

Is Rainwater Safe to Drink? Runoff Collected by Volunteers Offers Clues

Life on Earth needs water to survive. Yet, drinkable water is a rapidly dwindling resource. Out of all the water on our planet, only 2.5 percent is freshwater. And of that 2.5 percent, just 0.3 percent is readily accessible as surface water. According to FreshWaterWatch, by the year 2050, half of the world’s population will … Read more “Is Rainwater Safe to Drink? Runoff Collected by Volunteers Offers Clues”

Categories: Climate & Weather

Museums are Full of Forgotten Treasures. You Can Help Find Them

Around the world, in thousands of museums, there are millions of specimens representing the known biological diversity of our world. Each one of those specimens is a physical snapshot of time, prepared and preserved by a collector in a carefully curated collection. They’re often pressed in the pages of books, sketched into drawings and notes, … Read more “Museums are Full of Forgotten Treasures. You Can Help Find Them”

Categories: Citizen Science, Ecology & Environment

Can This Cheap, DIY Pollution Sensor Help the World Get Clean Air?

A few years ago, Alvaro Antonio Vanegas, a software engineer and avid cyclist, got tired of the air pollution problems in his hometown of Bogota, Colombia. He decided to join forces with an activist already researching the problem, Daniel Bernal, who he’d heard was building his own rudimentary air quality sensors and using them to … Read more “Can This Cheap, DIY Pollution Sensor Help the World Get Clean Air?”

Categories: Citizen Science, Environment

Human Impact: Climate Change and Citizen Science

This blog post is an edited excerpt from Human Impact, a new publication from Science Connected. Edited by Kate Stone and Shayna Keyles, Human Impact delivers 17 true tales of how humanity has changed the Earth, for better or for worse. This chapter appears in Human Impact as “Act Now: Engaging in Citizen Science,” and includes contributions … Read more “Human Impact: Climate Change and Citizen Science”

Categories: Citizen Science, Climate & Weather, Environment

What is killing California’s trees, and what can you do about it?

Editor’s note: This post originally appeared on the author’s blog. Project SCARAB is one of more than 800 great citizen science projects on SciStarter. Use our project finder to find one that you can participate in! The great thing about living in a major port city such as Los Angeles is having access to ideas and … Read more “What is killing California’s trees, and what can you do about it?”

Categories: Apps, Biology, Citizen Science, Ecology & Environment, Insects