Gamifying Citizen Science with Floracaching

Gamifying citizen science has the potential to engage existing volunteers in new ways, and to attract a new segment of the gaming-set: millennials. Millennials who were born after 1980 are known to be notorious technology enthusiasts. But what would draw, lets say, the average business student or technology major into playing a game that contributes … Read more “Gamifying Citizen Science with Floracaching”

Categories: Citizen Science, Ecology & Environment, Nature & Outdoors

Does Looking Older Impact Life Expectancy?

I’ve never been that great at guessing people’s ages. But I didn’t think much about my lack of ability until I met my husband, who seems to be pretty good at it. That’s why I was intrigued to learn about AgeGuess, a citizen science project and online game that challenges players to accurately guess other … Read more “Does Looking Older Impact Life Expectancy?”

Categories: Citizen Science, Science Education Standards

Playing Games for the Cure – Become a NanoDoc and Help Bioengineers Design New Nanomedicine

It’s likely you never expected to aid cutting edge cancer research by playing computer games, but the makers of NanoDoc are asking citizen scientists to do just that.   By designing nanoparticles – tiny clusters that are made up of only tens to thousands of atoms – and running simulations of how they interact in the … Read more “Playing Games for the Cure – Become a NanoDoc and Help Bioengineers Design New Nanomedicine”

Categories: Biology, Citizen Science, Gaming, Health, Science Education Standards

Citizen Sort: Who is in that photo?

Pictures, puzzles, and play. Citizen Sort is a collection of interactive games in which players sort and classify photos of unidentified animals. The project is the brain child of researchers at Syracuse University School of Information. The goal is to enable scientists to use pictures of wildlife from the web to help them study changes … Read more “Citizen Sort: Who is in that photo?”

Categories: Animals, Citizen Science, Gaming, Insects

Fraxinus to Fight Fungus

Human beings are remarkably capable animals when it comes to pattern recognition. The human ability to quickly and accurately recognize recurrent patterns is a skill that numerous citizen science projects have put to work on large, difficult data sets. Galaxy Zoo uses these skills to assist with the morphological classification of galaxies. Pattern recognition and … Read more “Fraxinus to Fight Fungus”

Categories: Apps, Citizen Science, Ecology & Environment, Gaming, Nature & Outdoors

Fun and Games Until Someone Maps an Eye (Neuron): Citizen Science Games

Tired of watching the kids race home from school just to play video games for hours? One-up them and make a significant contribution to science while YOU play games. (Warning: The kids might like these, too!) EyeWire EyeWire is a citizen science project aimed at mapping the neural connections of the retina. All you have … Read more “Fun and Games Until Someone Maps an Eye (Neuron): Citizen Science Games”

Categories: Citizen Science, Computers & Technology, Gaming, Nature & Outdoors, Newsletter, Science Education Standards

NASA Meets Public Health on the Juniper Pollen Project

SciStarter has a whole round-up of tree-related projects for you this season. Branch out with citizen science! I’m fortunate not to suffer from airborne allergies where I live. But when I spent time in southern Mexico during college and couldn’t stop sneezing, I learned firsthand how bothersome allergy symptoms can be. For the 17 million Americans with … Read more “NASA Meets Public Health on the Juniper Pollen Project”

Categories: Biology, Citizen Science, Ecology & Environment, Nature & Outdoors

Defining the Future of Research: The Science & Tech Forum in Los Angeles

If you’re on the west coast, you won’t want to miss the Science and Tech Forum: Los Angeles. It takes place this weekend from 9/28 to 9/29 and features a robust lineup of speakers from various science backgrounds. What’s unique about this conference is that it allows the attendees to set the agenda and organize sessions. … Read more “Defining the Future of Research: The Science & Tech Forum in Los Angeles”

Categories: Events

Scanning the Schoolyard for Hemlock Health

SciStarter has a whole round-up of tree-related projects for you this season. Branch out into citizen science! Massachusetts is on guard. Only the watchers are not local police or state troopers; they are the students of John R. Briggs Elementary School in Ashburnham, Massachusetts. Led by their teacher, Ms. Katherine Bennett, these young scientists scurry … Read more “Scanning the Schoolyard for Hemlock Health”

Categories: Citizen Science, Ecology & Environment, Nature & Outdoors, Science Education Standards

Just Add Water: Why Water Monitoring is Important

Today is World Water Monitoring Day! Participate by ordering a test kit and submitting sample data through December of this year. Also, check out the ocean of other water citizen science projects on SciStarter. Here at SciStarter, we spend a lot of time supporting citizen science, but we also happen to be citizen scientists ourselves. In the … Read more “Just Add Water: Why Water Monitoring is Important”

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