Category: Ecology & Environment

Two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to plant three trees during a Casey Trees community tree planting event in Washington, D.C.  On that freezing cold December morning, I got to thinking: how do trees survive the winter months? Is there anything can we do to make it easier for them? Well, it turns out that caring for trees is […]

Now that half the country is blanketed in snow for the holidays, we wanted to point out a cool new project to join: IceWatch USA! As a child in the woods of New Hampshire, my siblings and I kept a keen eye on the weather, and “ice on” events at our back pond were a […]

High in the mountains of Montana’s Glacier National Park, rangers need the help of citizen scientists like you to keep an eye on local flora and fauna. As a trained volunteer, you can help survey the loon population at many of the park’s stunning alpine lakes. As you hike, keep an ear out for the […]

There’s only one more day until this weekend’s USA Science and Engineering Festival Expo in Washington, DC! The Science for Citizens team has been hard at work putting together an engaging, interesting, and fun exhibit featuring some terrific citizen science projects. Remember, we’ll be at Section PA-13, Booth Numbers 1229 and 1231, on Pennsylvania Ave […]

The USA Science and Engineering Festival Expo is just two days away, and Science for Citizens is excited to be partnering with several fantastic citizen science organizations for our exhibit. Today, I’d like to introduce you to Lindsay from Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary, an estuarine site in the state of Maryland about 20 miles east of […]

The USA Science & Engineering Festival culminates this weekend, October 23-24, with a ginormous Expo featuring over 1,500 fun activities on the National Mall in Washington, DC. The Science for Citizens team will be there to host our very own exhibit, which will feature several partner citizen science organizations and opportunities to participate in real, […]

The mysterious widespread deaths of honey bees over the last four years has been a great worry, both to backyard gardeners and large agricultural companies. That’s why it was such welcome news last week when Army scientists in Maryland and bee experts in Montana reported they had discovered a likely cause: a fatal combination of […]

Crisp fall air in the northeastern Appalachian Mountains will soon signal trees to splash entire hillsides with red, yellow, and orange as far as the eye can see. The Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) hopes that many future generations of hikers will be able to enjoy similarly colorful views to the horizon. However, they need your […]

Love ’em or not, squirrels play an important role in local ecology. Mapping changes in their population can help researchers better understand–and predict–a range of corollary environmental changes. As described on the Project Squirrel website, “Squirrels can be important indicators of local ecology because they are resident in small territories and active year round, they […]

Looking for a convenient way to identify birds during your next citizen science excursion? Consider the WildLab Bird iPhone app, which uses photographs, audio, and maps to help you determine which bird you’ve spotted and makes it easy to share the observation with researchers at Cornell University’s Lab of Ornithology. Here’s how it works: Visit […]