Category: Biology

2018 was a great year for Citizen Science! More than 3,000 projects and events are now registered on SciStarter. There’s something for everyone, everywhere. In this edition of the newsletter, we are honoring the Top 18 Projects of 2018: projects that our collective community shared, participated in, and loved. Cheers! The SciStarter Team GLOBE Observer: […]

For more than a hundred years, the United States government has paired university scientists with local farmers to study how best to feed the world. These extension programs helped to more than double agricultural production in the U.S. between 1948 and 2001 by sharing knowledge between farmers and university researchers. These extension programs—which bring knowledge […]

The genetic modification of crops (GMOs) and the concept of designer babies (thanks to CRISPR technology) may be two of the most recognizable, yet controversial, topics related to the field of genetic engineering. At its core, genetic engineering, also known as bioengineering, is the genetic modification of an organism. Some view genetic engineering as an […]

Do you live in Mexico, the United States, or Canada? Then starting tomorrow, you can join in the second International Monarch Monitoring Blitz. From July 28 to August 5, it’s time for #MissionMonarch. By joining in on the Blitz, you help identify the monarch butterfly’s breeding sites, a task essential to its survival. You can […]

I read once that if you want to keep a giraffe in captivity you have to capture it when it is young because an adult giraffe will fight to the death to be free. The story was in the book “Zarafa” by Michael Allin, and while I don’t think the statement is scientifically correct, I […]

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University is sharing more details than ever before about its 15,000 collected plants. The best part—you can help make it happen!

While you kick back and relax after your Thanksgiving dinner,  your gut microbiota – the collection of beneficial microbes, mostly bacteria, that inhabit your lower intestine – will be hard at work breaking down the food you ate and carrying out all kinds of other essential functions.

Going out of your way to attract mosquitoes seems like the last thing anyone would want to do, but that is exactly what the national Invasive Mosquito Project is hoping volunteers will do in the name of public health. Managed through the United States Department of Agriculture, the Invasive Mosquito Project aims to track the spread of […]

A recent article in the New York Times highlights the way urban environments are affecting evolution in a variety of species. From European blackbirds with high-pitched calls to beat the sound of traffic to spiders adapted to build their webs closer to light poles, the dynamic and harsh urban environment is changing our biodiversity. Citizen scientists are […]

Dive into Shark Week with SciStarter It’s shark week! Celebrate by getting involved in one of the many citizen science projects that study and protect sharks. Find even more projects with the  SciStarter Global Project Finder. Cheers! The SciStarter Team