Are you up to the (water) challenge, today?

When you wake up in the morning and start your daily routine—take a shower, brush your teeth, cook breakfast—do you ever stop to wonder where all that water you’re using comes from? It’s availability (or lack thereof) is certainly not a common worry in the United States, where as of 2005 (the latest assessment of … Read more “Are you up to the (water) challenge, today?”

Categories: Biology, Citizen Science, Contest, Do-It-Yourself, Ecology & Environment, Health, Nature & Outdoors, Ocean & Water, Science Education Standards

Can we keep up with the growth of citizen science?

In the current issue of On Earth magazine, writer Sharman Apt Russell explores the exponential growth of citizen science and asks whether we can keep up with this growth. Explosion! Renaissance! Revolution! Tsunami! This is the sort of (admittedly overblown) language you might have overheard at the first-ever large-scale conference on citizen science, to describe … Read more “Can we keep up with the growth of citizen science?”

Categories: In the News

Citizen Scientists Go Back to School

It happens every year, and you’re right: it’s just not fair. After nearly three months of uninterrupted fun, gone are the barbeques, ball games and pool parties that dominated the summer schedule just as Labor Day signals the sudden arrival of the shorter, colder, and more structured days of the school year. But before you … Read more “Citizen Scientists Go Back to School”

Categories: Animals, Astronomy & Space, Biology, Citizen Science, Climate & Weather, Do-It-Yourself, Ecology & Environment, Insects, Nature & Outdoors, Science Education Standards, Workshops

Outside magazine: “12 Ways to Channel Your Inner Citizen Scientist”

From today’s Outside magazine: Whether it’s collecting marine debris or chasing butterflies or tracking grizzly bears, there’s something for budding citizen scientists of every stripe and appetite for adventure. Grab your waterproof-breathable pocket protector and check out these citizen science resources: 1: You’d do well to start by perusing SciStarter’s Project Finder tool, which lets … Read more “Outside magazine: “12 Ways to Channel Your Inner Citizen Scientist””

Categories: In the News

Help Track That Hurricane

As Hurricane Isaac makes landfall this morning, testing the infrastructure improvements following Hurricane Katrina, our thoughts are with the people of New Orleans for their continued safety. For weeks, scientists around the country have been studying the storm, tracking his progress and predicting his direction. With only a rain gauge, you can help them better … Read more “Help Track That Hurricane”

Categories: Citizen Science, Climate & Weather, Ecology & Environment, In the News, Nature & Outdoors, Science Education Standards

BioBlitz: Explore the National Parks with National Geographic

Attention all backyard explorers and rosebush whackers: this is the opportunity you’ve been waiting for. Your days of leading patient parents on perilous neighborhood expeditions are over. Put down that “machete.” Stop mushing the dog. Grab your merit badges. The big leagues are calling, and they want you on their next adventure! This Friday, August … Read more “BioBlitz: Explore the National Parks with National Geographic”

Categories: Animals, Biology, Birds, Citizen Science, Ecology & Environment, Education, Insects, Nature & Outdoors, Science Education Standards, Workshops

Celebrate Shark Week with Some Citizen Science

You might not realize it, but it’s always out there. Planning. Growing. Waiting for the perfect time to strike. You never quite know when it will happen. Maybe July. Maybe August. But you know it’s coming, and you can’t escape it. In an awesome display of speed and power, it bursts from an otherwise calm … Read more “Celebrate Shark Week with Some Citizen Science”

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

Be A Martian: NASA’s Mars Citizen Science Laboratory and the Mars Curiosity Landing

Curiosity Kills Cat, Leads Us to Red Planet Imagine for a moment that you are floating through space—dark, desolate, and deep. Months have passed since you left Earth. You’re millions of miles away from home, far removed from any comfort you’ve ever known. Then slowly, out of that interminable blanket of nothingness emerges a luminous … Read more “Be A Martian: NASA’s Mars Citizen Science Laboratory and the Mars Curiosity Landing”

Categories: Citizen Science

The ZomBee Apocalypse: A Citizen Science Project Sweet as Honey

Honeybees. Apis mellifera. Innocuous, diligent workers with only one mission in mind: to survive and provide for the hive. You would hardly ever come across a honeybee taking a break or straying from routine. Why, then, are honeybees in California and South Dakota suddenly abandoning their hives at night? Some seem to wander and stumble … Read more “The ZomBee Apocalypse: A Citizen Science Project Sweet as Honey”

Categories: Citizen Science