Citizen Science Resources

Citizen Science Project Opportunities:

Scistarter- Science we can do together. This is the place to find out about, take part in, and contribute to science through recreational activities and research projects. http://scistarter.com/index.html Scientific American - Citizen Science. Lists citizen science projects. http://www.scientificamerican.com/citizen-science/

Ecology based citizen science:

Project Feeder Watch. Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. Bird feeder survey from November through April of birds that visit feeders at your school, backyards and community areas in North America. Note: $15 annual fee. http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw ebird. eBird's goal is to maximize the utility and accessibility of the vast numbers of bird observations made each year by recreational and professional bird watchers. http://ebird.org/content/ebird/about Digital Fishers. Digital Fisher needs volunteers to help analyze deep-sea videos -- 15 seconds at a time. Volunteers watch a short video of the ocean and click on a simple response. Help scientists better understand ocean animal communities. http://digitalfishers.net Celebrate Urban Birds. Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. This five step project involves 10 minute bird observation 16 different species of "urban birds" from their list and then entering online or submitting mailed data forms. http://www.birds.cornell.edu/citscitoolkit/projects/clo/celebrateurbanbirds/ Journey North A Global Study of Wildlife Migration and Seasonal Change: http://www.learner.org/jnorth/ 1. Monarchs. Citizen scientists track the monarch butterfly migration each fall and spring as the monarchs travel to and from Mexico. http://www.learner.org/jnorth/monarch/ 2. American robin. Beginning in February, citizen scientists across North America are invited to report their first robin of spring, waves of migrating robins, and the first robin song of spring. http://www.learner.org/jnorth/robin/index.html 3. Red-winged Blackbirds. Report your first Red-winged Blackbird sightings of the year. http://www.learner.org/jnorth/rwbb/index.html 4. Ruby-throated Hummingbird. Students use interactive maps to track Ruby-throated as they make a remarkable journey north from Central America and Mexico. http://www.learner.org/jnorth/humm/index.html 5. Tulip Test Gardens. Students check soil temperature in a Tulip Test Garden and report it and tulip growth to the interactive site. http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tulip/index.html 6. Sunlight and the Seasons. Students share and compare sunrise and sunset observations from online resources and with students around the world after calculating their own daylength. http://www.learner.org/jnorth/sunlight/index.html Garlic Mustard Field Survey. Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) is an invasive introduced plant in North America and this project will investigate how and if it really grows larger and reproduces better here than in native European populations. http://www.garlicmustard.org/ Operation RubyThroat. Allows citizen scientists to collect data about Ruby Throated Hummingbird migration and nesting. http://rubythroat.org/default2.html

Lost Ladybug Project. This project asks citizen scientists to help find out where all the ladybugs have gone so we can try to prevent more native species from becoming so rare. http://www.lostladybug.org/ Firefly Watch. This project hopes to learn about the geographic distribution of fireflies and their activity during the summer season. https://www.mos.org/fireflywatch/ Project Squirrel. This project is trying to track squirrels not only where they are, but where they aren't. http://www.projectsquirrel.org/index.shtml FrogWatch USA. FrogWatch USA is a citizen science program that allows individuals and families to learn about the wetlands in their communities and help conserve amphibians by reporting the calls of local frogs and toads. http://www.aza.org/frogwatch/ Maryland Amphibian and Reptile Atlas. Volunteers are needed to document the statewide distribution of Maryland's amphibians and reptiles. http://marylandnaturalistor.ipower.com/mara/ Monarch Larva Monitoring Program. The goal of the project is to better understand how and why monarch populations vary in time and space, with a focus on monarch distribution and abundance during the breeding season in North America. http://www.mlmp.org/ Shout: Smithsonian Tree Banding Project. A citizen science program that contributes to research about tree biomass and will track how trees respond to climate. http://shoutlearning.org/treebanding.html The Great Sunflower Project. The purpose of this project is to better understand the reason for and impact of declines in bee populations. Volunteers plant flowers, observe how many and how often bees visit those flowers, and then enter that information into a database. http://www.scientificamerican.com/citizen-science/project.cfm?id=great-sunflower-projectsan-fran Bee Hunt! Please join us in this scientific study to understand the impact of climate change and other factors on plant-pollinator interactions, their geographic distributions, and seasonal abundances. http://www.discoverlife.org/bee/index.html Project Roadkill. Volunteers monitor dead animals along the roadway as a way for students to learn the different kinds of animals that are found along the roadways. http://roadkill.edutel.com/

Physical/Earth Science based citizen science:

Foldit: Solve Protein Puzzles for Science. Help discover and predict the structure of a protein. Foldit is a revolutionary new computer game enabling you to contribute to important scientific research. http://fold.it/portal/ Phylo. Phylo is actually a framework for harnessing computing power to solve the problem of multiple sequence alignments. Citizen scientists play the game by arranging nucleotides. http://phylo.cs.mcgill.ca The Whale Song Project (Whale FM). Citizen scientists can help study whale communications and pass along their observations. The Whale Song Project, is designed specifically to assist in killer (Orca) and pilot whale research. http://www.scientificamerican.com/citizen-science/project.cfm?id=the-whale-songproject-whale-fm

Galaxy Zoo. Galaxy Zoo needs your help to classify galaxies according to their shapes. http://www.galaxyzoo.org/ Gravestone Project. This project aims to map the location of graveyards around the globe and then use marble gravestones in those graveyards to measure the weathering rate of marble at that location. http://www.scientificamerican.com/citizen-science/project.cfm?id=gravestone-project World Water Monitoring Day. An international program that builds public awareness and involvement in protecting water resources around the world by engaging citizens to conduct basic monitoring of their local water bodies. http://www.worldwatermonitoringday.org/

Phenology based citizen science:

Project Budburst. Project Budburst is a network of people across the United States who monitor plants as the seasons change. This is a national field campaign designed to engage the public in the collection of important ecological data based on the timing of leafing, flowering, and fruiting of plants (plant phenophases). http://www.budburst.org/ Natures Notebook. Nature's Notebook is a national plant and animal phenology observation program. You can join thousands of other individuals who are providing valuable observations that scientists, educators, policy makers, and resource managers are using to understand how plants and animals are responding to climate change and other environmental changes. http://www.usanpn.org/about Project Noah. Project Noah is a tool to explore and document wildlife. Project Noah was created to provide people of all ages with a simple, easy-to-use way to share their experiences with wildlife. http://www.projectnoah.org/