Blog: Citizen Science Projects, People, and Perspectives
By Darlene Cavalier, May 17, 2012
As part of our ongoing series, “Citizen Science Test Drive,” first-person reviews of citizen science apps, platforms, tools and projects, we present a guest post from Hal Hodson, a science and technology journalist, based in London, UK. There’s a misconception about astronomy, and it’s to do with the telescopes. Tell someone that you’ve got a … Read more “Citizen Science Test Drive: Flex your inner-astronomer’s muscle with Zooniverse”
Categories: Citizen Science
By Darlene Cavalier, May 03, 2012
RESTON, Va. — Thanks to citizen-scientists around the country, the USA National Phenology Network hit a major milestone this week by reaching its one millionth nature observation. The millionth observation was done by Lucille Tower, a citizen-scientist in Portland, Ore., who entered a record about seeing maple vines flowering. Her data, like all of the … Read more ““Citizens Have Contributed One Million Observations to Top Nature Database.””
Categories: Citizen Science, Guest Contributor
By Darlene Cavalier, Apr 19, 2012
Come join the SciStarter team at that “Woodstock of Science,” the Philadelphia Science Festival this Saturday, April 21st. Stroll along the beautiful Ben Franklin Parkway amid hundreds of hands-on science experiments and exhibits! And, on Tuesday, 4/24, meet SciStarter founder Darlene Cavalier, Azavea (creators of Philly Tree Map, see below) CEO Robert Cheetham, and SciStarter … Read more “Meet the SciStarter team in Philadelphia!”
Categories: Citizen Science
By Lisa Gardiner, Apr 17, 2012
Imagine someone who is exploring nature. Are they wearing a backpack and hiking boots? Are they roaming the great outdoors? Now imagine someone exploring science. Are they wearing a lab coat and glasses? Are they in a chemistry lab or a room full of computers? Have they been indoors so long that their eyes squint at the light of day? Scientists, naturalist, writers, and artists all look at nature in different ways. What's your lens on nature? … Read more
Categories: Animals, Birds, Citizen Science, Nature & Outdoors, Science Education Standards
By Darlene Cavalier, Apr 16, 2012
Registration is open for the Conference on Public Participation in Scientific Research (citizen science, volunteer monitoring, community-based research, crowd science). August 4th and 5th, 2012 in Portland, Oregon. $30 with registration for ESA meeting, $95 for this event only. Now accepting poster abstracts and scholarship applications until May 4, 2012. With the rapid growth and … Read more “Call for Abstracts & more – Public Participation in Scientific Research Conf, Portland, OR, Aug 4-5, 2012”
Categories: Citizen Science
By Kate Atkins, Apr 04, 2012
The first blog post in our new series titled “Citizen Science Test Drive,” (where we present first-person reviews of citizen science apps, tools and platforms) featured reviews of three nature apps by SciStarter contributor Lisa Gardner. Today, we bring you Kate Atkins, a regular SciStarter contributor and avid birder. Here, Kate shares her list of … Read more “Citizen Science Test Drive: Apps for birding.”
Categories: Apps, Birds, Citizen Science, Ecology & Environment, Nature & Outdoors
By Darlene Cavalier, Apr 03, 2012
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy recently announced the “Big Data Research and Development Initiative.” This may be of interest to researchers and practitioners of crowd sourcing and citizen science. For example, as part of this effort, the National Science Foundation will fund a $10 million Expeditions in Computing project based at … Read more “Big Data is a Big Deal”
Categories: Citizen Science
By Lisa Gardiner, Mar 29, 2012
Today, we are launching a series of SciStarter blog posts titled, “Citizen Science Test Drive” where we will present first-person reviews of citizen science apps, tools and platforms. If you would like to contribute to this series and share your experiences with our community, email john@scistarter.com. Here’s my review of three mobile apps for exploring … Read more “Citizen Science Test Drive: Three Mobile Apps for Exploring Nature”
Categories: Apps, Citizen Science, Ecology & Environment
By Darlene Cavalier, Mar 13, 2012
Sergei Winogradsky discovered nitrifying bacteria in 1890, recognizing that these microbes convert ammonia to nitrate (via nitrite). In aquatic environments, ammonia toxicity to fish is avoided almost exclusively due to the activity of these bacteria…or so it was thought. The ability to remove (or oxidize) ammonia was discovered recently in Archaea, which are an entirely … Read more “Aquarium microbial ecology: a living room approach to citizen science”
Categories: Citizen Science, Ecology & Environment, Guest Contributor
By Kate Atkins, Mar 08, 2012
Spring is in the air, and birds are finally on the move. A recent push of southerly winds through the middle of the United States have put early migrants – particularly geese and swans – on the fast track to their breeding grounds up north. This weather pattern is set to continue through this week, … Read more “Spring swan sightings”
Categories: Biology, Birds, Citizen Science, Ecology & Environment, Nature & Outdoors
