Explore Citizen Science
Citizen Science Month is presented by SciStarter and ASU with support from the National Library of Medicine. Engaging network members through Crowdsourcing and Citizen Science (CCS), including initiatives like Citizen Science month, "supports NLM’s FY2020 Congressional Justification, which states that NLM is "committed to encouraging citizen science as a way to provide opportunities for members of the community to work with NLM to improve and apply NLM products and services in novel ways" by creating a link between NLM researchers and the community." - source
The SJR State Library is a member of the U.S. National Library of Medicine's National Network of Libraries of Medicine and the National Citizen and Community Science Library Network.
Get Involved with Citizen Science with These Projects!
From the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS) - CoCoRaHS (pronounced KO-ko-rozz) is a grassroots volunteer network of backyard weather observers of all ages and backgrounds working together to measure and map precipitation (rain, hail, and snow) in their local communities. By using low-cost measurement tools, stressing training and education, and utilizing an interactive website, CoCoRaHS aims to provide the highest quality data for natural resource, education, and research applications. The only requirements to join are an enthusiasm for watching and reporting weather conditions and a desire to learn more about how weather can affect and impact our lives.
CrowdMag - When you go outside and are moving around, use CrowdMag to measure the magnetic data along your path. Save, list, export or delete data to create a complete magnetic field map of your area. Share your data with a research group at NOAA. Multiple recordings along the same path are very helpful to reduce the noise and produce a more accurate magnetic field map. Get started with our tiny tutorial!
GPS on Bench Marks - Help improve the National Spatial Reference System (NSRS) by participating in GPS on Bench Marks (GPS on BM). GPS on BM has three important steps: recover, observe, and report. Recover: Using web maps or other desktop tools to look up the description of an existing bench mark and visit the bench mark of your choice and submit a mark recovery. Observe: Record field notes, take digital photos, and collect GPS observations for the bench mark you visit. Report: Use online tools to send the information to the National Geodetic Survey.
Marine Debris Monitoring Toolkit for Educators - The Marine Debris Monitoring Toolkit for Educators was created through a collaboration between the NOAA Marine Debris Program (MDP) and the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries. This toolkit provides many useful marine debris resources and adapts the MDP's Marine Debris Monitoring and Assessment Project, a robust citizen science monitoring initiative, for classroom use. The Toolkit is designed to assist teachers in educating their students about marine debris and involving them in marine debris research and outreach. Using the Toolkit, students conduct marine debris surveys, which can help to provide valuable information on where, when, and what kind of debris is showing up. Students can enter their data into a national database, analyze monitoring results, and become involved in marine debris stewardship within their communities.
mPING - The NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory collects public weather reports through a free app available for mobile devices. Reporters select the type of weather that is occurring, and tap “submit.” mPING reports are immediately archived into a database at The University of Oklahoma, and are displayed on a map accessible to anyone. Weather radars cannot “see” at the ground, so mPING (Meteorological Phenomena Identification Near the Ground) reports are used by the National Weather Service to fine-tune their forecasts. NSSL uses the data in a variety of ways, including to develop new radar and forecasting technologies and techniques.
Old Weather - Old Weather volunteers explore, mark, and transcribe historic ship's logs from the 19th and early 20th centuries. We need your help because this task is impossible for computers, due to diverse and idiosyncratic handwriting that only human beings can read and understand effectively. By participating in Old Weather you'll be helping advance research in multiple fields. Data about past weather and sea-ice conditions are vital for climate scientists, while historians value knowing about the course of a voyage and the events that transpired. Since many of these logs haven't been examined since they were originally filled in by a mariner long ago you might even discover something surprising.
Whale Alert - Busy shipping lanes that coincide with whale feeding areas, breeding regions, and migratory routes present an immense ship strike threat to whales. With the free Whale Alert app, mariners and members of the public are provided with a user-friendly tool directly on their mobile device that displays whale "safety zones." The app also allows the user to report any live, dead, or distressed whale sightings to the appropriate response agency; thus making this app an important tool for reducing ship strike threat to all whale species.
What's your water level? - Submit information on water levels in your community. Observations are used to map regional water levels (flooded, normal, and low) regionally. Your contributions will be used by local, state, and national managers and scientists to learn more about high coastal water levels, their causes, and impacts.
From Scistarter.org
Scistarter.org offers thousands of opportunities for you to turn your curiosity into impact. There’s something for everyone, everywhere! Join a project or event from wherever you are to help scientists answer questions they cannot answer without you. Check out their featured projects...
SATELLITE STREAK WATCHER - Photograph satellite streaks across the night sky to monitor this form of sky pollution. All you need is a smartphone or a camera and a tripod! As more satellites are placed into orbit, they will become even more of problem to astronomers on the ground. This long-term project will photographically track the population growth of these satellites over time.
FOLDIT - Download and play Foldit, and you can help researchers discover new antiviral drugs that might stop coronavirus. The most promising solutions will be manufactured and tested at the University of Washington Institute for Protein Design in Seattle.
FLU NEAR YOU - The Flu Near You project leverages the power of the crowd to provide real-time information about influenza-like-illness in your area. Epidemiologists from Harvard and Boston Children’s Hospital created the project, which can complement traditional tracking and provide useful public information. Complete a quick, weekly survey to share whether you feel healthy or sick. Participation is free and your individual report remains confidential.
COLONY B - Colony B is a mobile game developed at McGill University that allows you to contribute to research on microbes. Collect microbes and grow your colony in a fast paced puzzle game. Unlock badges to learn about microbes living inside our body. The results are used to analyze data from the American Gut project based at University of California San Diego.
From Zooniverse
- Penguin Watch"Help us count adult penguins, chicks, and eggs to understand when they are at the colony, how many are there and how successful they are at raising their chicks. We also need you to help us identify other individuals (like predator birds) in the images to learn more about their behaviour and interactions with the penguins.
- Aurora Zoo"We want to understand how energy is transferred from space into our atmosphere, and what it does when it gets there - and you can help! Using images from the ASK camera system in the high Arctic we can learn more about the northern lights and the science "behind the beautiful shapes they form."
- Maria Edgeworth Letters"Tthe Maria Edgeworth Letters project aims to create a standard digital edition of letters written by Maria Edgeworth that is as complete as possible, accessible to all, and fully searchable. Additionally, the project will provide a corpus of plain-text transcriptions of all of the letters for data mining, text analysis, and visualization. In providing this open access digital resource, we will be able to locate Edgeworth in her historical and social context and demonstrate her importance for studies of gender, race, religion, education, and science of and beyond the period."
From National Geographic
- Audubon Christmas Bird Count"Each November, birders interesting in participating in the CBC can sign up and join in through the Audubon website. From December 14 through January 5 each year tens of thousands of volunteers throughout the Americas brave snow, wind, or rain, and take part in the effort. Audubon and other organizations use data collected in this long-running wildlife census to assess the health of bird populations, and to help guide conservation action."