Citizen Science Month Media Toolkit
Purpose
Help us achieve 2.50 million Acts of Science during Citizen Science Month this April. Use this toolkit to spark conversations, mobilize participants, and celebrate the power of citizen science.
Whether you’re a project scientist, educator or facilitator, federal agency, organization, or enthusiastic citizen scientist, your voice can help mobilize a movement and help us showcase the collective impact of citizen science – because every Act of Science counts.
Quick Links
Fast Facts
What are Acts of Science?
Acts of Science are real, measurable contributions to ongoing scientific research—open to anyone, anywhere. In 2026, we are aiming to surpass 2.50 Million Acts of Science. Examples include:
- Sharing photos of nature to help document biodiversity
- Browsing images on your computer to speed up research about Alzheimer’s disease
- Using your phone to help track microplastics and air quality
When is Citizen Science Month?
Every April, SciStarter and our partners rally individuals, educators, organizations, and communities to take action by engaging in meaningful scientific activities for Citizen Science Month. These Acts of Science demonstrate the incredible impact of public participation in research and inspire even more people to get involved. Every act counts—make yours part of the movement!
Why 2.5 Million Acts of Science?
2026 is the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in the USA. In honor of this landmark year, we are aiming to surpass 2.50 Million Acts of Science. All Acts of Science done in the United States and tallied by SciStarter will count towards America Gives the largest volunteer effort in American history. SciStarter is an official partner of America Gives.
How You Can Help
Spread the word to your communities to engage them in 2.50 Million Acts of Science during Citizen Science Month:
- Send this press release to your regional news outlets with a note about how you’re participating locally
- Print and display posters and signs, or share our postcard and flyer designs, to communicate how people can participate and make an impact [Updated designs coming soon!].
- Email your volunteers using this handy template
Amplify our messages on social media:
- Follow @SciStarter on Facebook, BlueSky, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, and TikTok (@SciStarter.org) and share our content; be sure to use the #ActsofScience hashtag!
- Consider following our Citizen Science Month Organizing Partners:
Engage your networks on social media:
- Use the #ActsofScience hashtag and engage with @SciStarter via your personal or organizational accounts
- Announce your support and partnership using our graphic templates.
- See suggested captions, or develop your own. [Jump to captions].
- Capture and post photos of your events. Use #ActsofScience and tag @SciStarter.
- Use our Giphy stickers on Instagram posts: 1) Create the story or reel you want to post, 2) Select the “stickers” icon located on the top menu, 3) Type “SciStarter” into the search bar and select from one of the available CitSciMonth Stickers.
Resources: Images, Sample Posts, and more
Tagging
- Always use #ActsofScience
- Use additional existing hashtags about related topics to support more visibility: #CitizenScienceMonth, #CitizenScience,#CivicScience,#ParticipatoryScience, #CommunityScience #STEM, #scienceiscool, #scienceprojects, #astronomy, #space, #scicomm, #research, #libraries
- Use hashtags related to your topic/project or institution
- For Instagram: add@SciStarter as a “collaborator” to amplify engagement. Send us a “collaborator request” while creating the post, and your post or reel will appear on both of our profiles. Find out how.
Graphics for Posting and Printing
- Browse our SmugMug gallery for images of citizen science in action, often with Library Citizen Science Kits
- Use our custom partner graphic templates on Canva [Square] [IG Story 4:5]
- Print Postcards to spread the word, use the Canva Template or download here
- Access print-ready posters about monthly Acts of Science: Connected events
- Use our Rosie the Robotter Graphic to print stickers of pins.
- Citizen Science Month and Acts of Science Logos below, or see more options here
(Click, hold-down or right-click on the images below to save to your desktop or smartphone.)
Suggested Social Media Captions
New for 2026! Acts of Science: Connected event series:
Celebrate Citizen Science Month with us! Join Acts of Science: Connected—a national initiative from @SciStarter and Arizona State University—where everyone can contribute to real research. Explore projects you can start in minutes and help reach the national goal of 2.50 Million #ActsofScience. Visit our library to pick up a flyer or scan the QR code to get started from home. Every Act counts!
Celebrate Citizen Science Month with us! Join Acts of Science: Connected—a national initiative from @SciStarter and Arizona State University—where everyone can contribute to real research. Explore projects you can start in minutes and help reach the national goal of 2.50 Million #ActsofScience. Visit our library for the live streamed event on April [date and time]. Every Act counts!
Sample text for recruiting volunteers:
We’ve partnered with @SciStarter and hundreds of other #CitizenScience projects to encourage our volunteers to join a global effort to log 2.5 Million #ActsofScience this April! Don’t miss out! Learn about [project name] and how you can impact [scientific research aim]! Learn more at citizensciencemonth.org [or insert your project link]
Join us in the global effort to collect 2.5 Million #ActsofScience during the month of April. Learn how and celebrate with us at ActsofScience.org
Join us to be part of 2.5 Million #ActsofScience during April. You can [describe task] to help us [describe objective]. Sign up: [project link].
Join us and @SciStarter this #CitSciMonth in 2.5 Million #ActsofScience
Who: Thousands of people
What: 2,500,000 Acts of Science in 1 month
Where: Anywhere in the world!
When: April 2026
Why: Support researchers in gathering and analyzing data to make a difference
Learn more at citizensciencemonth.org [or insert your organization link]
Sample text for promoting programs or goals:
[Insert Institution] is presenting a FREE event open to anyone interested in learning how to turn curiosity into action through the global effort to collect 2.5 Million #ActsofScience. Join us to explore [insert theme or focus of event]. Learn more at [event link].
Join [insert institution or “us”] on [date] as we rally to hit our community goal of [choose a #] [“classifications” or “analyses”, etc] towards [project] as part of 2.5 Million #ActsofScience with our partner @SciStarter. [End with instructions to join]
Join [project] on [date] as we rally to hit our goal of [#][classifications/analyses/contributions/etc] towards [topic/research goal] as part of 2.5 Million #ActsofScience with our partner @SciStarter. Get started at [name and link to your project].
We’re aiming for [# Acts of Science or some other motivator] this April as part the 2.5 Million #ActsofScience challenge this #CitizenScienceMonth! Join us [on a date, other brief instruction] to [“meet the team,” “make an impact,” etc]. Start here: [link to project or event]”
Sample text for celebrating April participation:
Amazing! [institution] and friends added [#] Acts of Science by [describe activity] as part of 2.5 Million #ActsofScience! There’s still time to do more: https://citizensciencemonth.org [or organization page link]
Our community of participants in [Name of project] added [total #] of Acts of Science to the collective goal of 2.5 Million #ActsofScience this month! Well done, team! There’s still time to get involved at citizensciencemonth.org
Sample text for Global Partners and Associations:
We’ve partnered with @SciStarter and #CitizenScientists across the world to encourage our volunteers to join a global effort to log 2.5 Million #ActsofScience this April! Don’t miss out! See how you can get involved in our featured projects: [insert link]
Join us in the global effort to collect 2.5 Million #ActsofScience during the month of April. Learn how and celebrate with us at [insert link]
#CitizenScienceMonth – [Advertise a featured project and what it accomplishes]
Citizen Science Month and Acts of Science Logos
Use our logo in all promotional materials from social media posts to print media to webpages. (Click, hold-down or right-click on the images below to save to your desktop or smartphone.)
Acts of Science: Connected Promotional Resources
Acts of Science: Connected is the flagship event series for Citizen Science Month 2026!
Whether you are hosting your own live streamed satellite event or promoting participation from home, we have posters ready for you!
You will find print-ready posters for each Acts of Science: Connected event, instructions for how to use Canva templates of the posters, and themed background posters in this google drive folder.
Questions? Please contact Emma@SciStarter.org