Category: Citizen Science

Citizen scientists help make discoveries about how genetics may shape the way we taste food.  Turkey or ham? Stuffing or mashed potatoes? Pumpkin or apple pie? As I prepared for Thanksgiving this year, I reflected on all the culinary choices this feasting day offers and wondered why people who share a culture, a community, or […]

Take a break from online shopping and sharpen that brain by contributing a few minutes to science. Below, our editors present six projects in need of your help. (And really, you know you’re going to abandon that online shopping cart, anyway!)   Visit the SciStarter Project Finder for 1100 more opportunities and join our community […]

Editor’s Note: myObservatory is a SciStarter advertiser but had no editorial input or control over this blog post. by Kristin Butler When I attended the Citizen Science Association’s first national conference in San Jose earlier this year, I noticed a recurring theme: while there has been an explosion in the collection of data by volunteers across the […]

As monarch butterflies take their annual migratory trip to the west coast in winter, citizen scientists help researchers keep track with the Western Monarch Thanksgiving Count.

Photo: USFWS For many people, Thanksgiving brings to mind family, friends, food, and football.  For us here at SciStarter, it’s a time to give thanks to you! So thank you for making the world a better place through citizen science. Below, you’ll find five projects that will put you in the Thanksgiving spirit! Visit the […]

From human cognition to gut microbes, people just like you are working with researchers to study the human mind and body. Here are six projects you can do today.

Citizen scientists help identify bat calls and contribute to research involving bat conservation

It’s time for ghouls and goblins, candy and costumes, AND citizen science! Here are six creep crawly projects to spice up your Halloween festivities. Find 1,000 more! Happy Halloween, The SciStarter Team   Photo: NASA Send Us Your Skeletons This project needs skeletons, but don’t worry- they don’t want human ones! The Department of Fisheries […]

Gayle Steffy’s fascination with butterflies started when she was thirteen. She found her first monarch caterpillar, brought it home and raised it to adulthood. She’s been hooked ever since, collecting data on monarchs years before joining any of the established monarch citizen science projects. Despite her early interest, which eventually led her to acquire a […]

Check ’em out! We thought it would be interesting to share the growth in the number of projects added to SciStarter’s Project Finder so our developer, Daniel Arbuckle, put this chart together (it doesn’t account for 100 or so projects awaiting images and additional information before we publish them!):