Citizen Science Month Updates for Event Organizers

By Caroline Nickerson, Mar 18, 2020

Dear Citizen Science Month friends:

Let’s take one, big, collective deep breath.  Annnnnnddddd exhale.

Okay. In light of the Coronavirus pandemic, if you were planning to host an event (including events for Verizon volunteers), please transition your in-person events to online events or cancel/postpone your event until we have clear signals that it’s safe to return to life as usual. 

To cancel or postpone an event you’ve listed on SciStarter, please edit the event listing at your earliest convenience:

  1. Log in to SciStarter and use the quick navigation at the top of the page to find your event.
  2. Click on your event. You should see an Edit tab (see below). If you don’t see this, just email CarolineN@SciStarter.org.
  3. If you are canceling or postponing your event, click the toggle at the top of the event page to “Not Published” and edit the event title to include the word “CANCELED” or “POSTPONED.” Click save.

To create an online event or transition your in-person event into an online event, we’ve got terrific resources for you! We strongly encourage anyone who was planning an event for Verizon volunteers to make use of these resources.

  1. Join us via Zoom tomorrow at 8 AM EST, 11 AM EST, or  8 PM EST for 30 minute calls where we will help you design online events using our Zoom platform and promotional resources if needed.  Join Zoom Meeting: https://zoom.us/j/264491167 Meeting ID: 264 491 167. Or call in mobile: +16465588656 264491167# 
  2. Science Friday and SciStarter are partnering up on a free webinar to help make your citizen science event great in the time of social distancing. Practitioners, join us for a rapid training on March 25th at 2pm ET.  Register for the free webinar.  

Last but not least, please invite your communities to do citizen science from home. It’s a great way to focus on something positive, help advance research, and make a collective impact…as you well know. 

Here are three ways to do this:

  1. Invite your community to find projects to do projects to advance research on human and environmental health: SciStarter.org/NLM .
  2.  Share Discover Magazine’s blog post: Cooped up at Home? Here Are 7 Ways to Take Part in Online Science Projects and Activities.
  3. Share these images on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Feel free to use them or modify them for your own programs. 

Thank you. Stay healthy. 

The SciStarter/Citizen Science Month Team

Categories: Citizen Science Month

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About the Author

Caroline Nickerson

Caroline Nickerson

Caroline Nickerson is an advisor at SciStarter, where she assists with the Citizen Science Month Program, SciStarter’s Corporate Volunteer Programs and other programmatic and outreach efforts. Caroline is a Master of Public Policy graduate from American University, where she was a Reilly Environmental Policy Scholar, and is a current PhD student at the University of Florida. She also works with the UF-VA Bioethics Unit, the Christensen Project, Florida Community Innovation and other organizations. She was the 2019 Cherry Blossom Princess representing the state of Florida and the grand prize scholarship winner at Miss Earth USA 2021 as Miss Louisiana Earth.