Category: Climate & Weather

Natural disasters can be devastating and terrifying but in some cases, there are things we can do to take control. Here are a selection of citizen science projects designed to inform rescue efforts and related research. Cheers! The SciStarter Team

Civic minded citizen scientists in your community help meteorologists and the National Weather Service stay abreast of inclement weather with on-the-ground data. Earlier this week, the Midwest and Northeast were slammed with tornados and thunderstorms that grounded planes and held up trains. Thousands of people along the Northeast corridor lost power as a result. During […]

From shoveling the third heavy snowfall of winter to spotting the first crocus of spring, each day without fail we experience our environment. Meaning each of us is a potential wealth of information about our local environment. Information that if gathered could inform climate scientists about the local effects and potential indicators of climate change. […]

Interested in more spring themed citizen science projects? Check out the ones the SciStarter team has handpicked for you here! Or use SciStarter’s project finder to find one that piques your curiosity! In 1998 Tim Sparks, a research biologist at Britain’s Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in Cambridge started a pilot project designed to record […]

As part of SciStarter’s regular radio series with WHYY’s The Pulse, we highlight new developments in citizen science and a few projects ripe for spring! As the weather starts warming up and we all begin shedding our thick, winter coats, a crop of new citizen science projects are enticing us to get outdoors in the name […]

As we ring in the New Year, we’re celebrating the 14 Top Projects of 2014! These are the projects that received the most visits on the SciStarter website. Resolve to do more citizen science in 2015! We’ll help you with that goal. Happy New Year! Photo: Mike Hankey 1.  American Meteor Society – Meteor Observing Report meteors […]

This is a guest post from David Sittenfeld, Manager, Forums at the Museum of Science, Boston. FIREFLIES, HEALTHIER CITIES, AND POLICY INPUT: CITIZEN PARTICIPATION IN SCIENCE AT THE MUSEUM OF SCIENCE IN BOSTON At the Museum of Science in Boston, we’ve been exploring three flavors of citizen science over the last half-decade or so. We […]

Looking for ways to fund citizen science research? Check out the Citizen Science Funding Resource Guide! Jessica Clemente, an environmental science graduate thought she would be doing work outside of her community once she got her degree. But she is an asthmatic, and when she found out there was an asthma study taking place in […]

Live in Los Angeles county? Photograph butterflies and moths, and help scientists study climate change. Interested in more moth and butterfly citizen science projects?  We’ve got you covered! “Once I read a story about a butterfly in the subway, and today, I saw one…” [2] In the heat of summer monsoons, butterflies accompany the paddling […]

Track phenology events in Appalachian mountains and contribute to climate change research with Mountain Watch! Want more spring citizen science? We’ve got you covered through April showers and May flowers. There is nothing more rewarding than taking in the view from above tree-line. A challenging hike always seems like a distant memory after gazing upon the landscape […]