Category: Nature & Outdoors

by Nohra Murad It’s that exciting time of year again: it’s National Moth Week! But not just any National Moth Week. NMW 2016 marks the fifth year that the Friends of the East Brunswick Environmental Commission has run National Moth Week (NMW), a time for citizen scientists to go out moth-ing in their community. This […]

by Jennifer Cutraro By now, you’ve surely seen, heard about, or even joined the hordes of people wandering about outdoors,  phones held right in front of their faces. In the two weeks since Pokémon Go’s release, there’s been much ado about the game: how it gets people outdoors, how it promotes physical activity, how it’s […]

In Arizona and the surrounding Southwestern United States, over 400 people are participating in a nine-year ongoing game of tag. But these folks are not tagging each other. They’re actually romping about in meadows with small nets, hoping to catch and tag a Monarch butterfly. In 2003 Chris Kline began the Southwest Monarch Study in order to […]

Photo: Wendy Caldwell This week we celebrate National Pollinator Week, in honor of the bees, butterflies, beetles, and other animals that provide essential services to ecosystems and agricultural lands everywhere. Citizen science is at the forefront of pollinator research, and below we highlight six projects that you can join to help study and protect pollinators. […]

Amphibians and reptiles, also known as herptiles or herps, are the focus of many citizen science projects. Are you interested in frogs, turtles, and snakes? If you are, join one of the projects below to study the distribution and population status of these wonderful creatures!

Photo: USFWS Those Elusive Flying Mammals! Bats can be tricky to spot and observe but let’s try because they need our help.  As disease, habitat loss, and climate change decimate some bat populations, we can help scientists monitor and protect them. Below, our editors highlight five bat-related citizen projects from around the globe. Find more […]

The beauty of citizen science is the ability for non-professional researchers to get up close and personal with science. Think about all of your experiences collecting data from your backyard, analyzing images of spring online, and learning about new topics in science, have you heard from the scientists you’re helping? In our new series, “Conversations […]

Follow a tree through its journey into spring! Citizen scientists can record budbursting, leafing and flowering with Track a Tree as seasons shift in the United Kingdom.

Photo: CL Goforth Critter Tracking With spring weather upon us, many animals are on the move. Contribute your wildlife observations to advance scientific research. Learn how, below. Find projects from our pals in Ireland, Canada, the EU, and now, Australia through our brand new international partnership. Like citizen science, SciStarter is global. You can find more […]

Who needs chocolate, cards, roses, or a significant other, when you can celebrate Valentine’s Day with citizen science? Below you’ll find five projects we love. Visit SciStarter to find 1000 more. PS: If you have 30 seconds, consider taking this quick poll. We’re curious to learn more about the formal education level of the citizen science […]