"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has".
-Margaret Mead
BECOME A CITIZEN SCIENTIST
WHAT IS CITIZEN SCIENCE? Research often involves teams of scientists collaborating across continents. Now, using the power of the Internet, non-specialists are participating, too. Citizen Science falls into many categories.. Citizen scientists may make observations of the natural world or engage in other kinds of efforts that require large participation. There are many citizen science projects to consider joining. Check out the Citizen Science Central list maintained by The Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Note: The Citizen Science Association is now called the Association for Advancing PArticipatory Sciences. Learn more about the name change here.
WAYS TO BECOME A CITIZEN SCIENTIST:
eBIRD is a program that allows citizen/users to report any bird seen anywhere and is the biggest volunteer-based data collection in the world. eBird’s goal is to maximize the utility and accessibility of the vast numbers of bird observations made each year by recreational and professional bird watchers. It is amassing one of the largest and fastest growing biodiversity data resources in existence. Bird documents the presence or absence of species, as well as bird abundance through checklist data. Learn more.
The Great Sunflower Project started in California in 2008 to better understand the reason for and impact of declines in bee populations. The idea behind the project is to plant flowers, observe how many and how often bees visit those flowers, and then enter that information into a database on The Great Sunflower Project Web site. The project has since expanded so that citizen scientists can also plant Bee balm, Cosmos, Rosemary, Tickseed, and Purple coneflower for the purposes of this research.
Migratory Dragonfly Partnership invites citizen scientists to join a growing community working together to increase scientific knowledge about North America’s five main migratory dragonfly species. In North America, migrations are seen annually in late summer and early fall, when thousands to millions of insects stream southward along coasts, lake shores, and mountain ridges from Canada down to Mexico and the West Indies, passing along both coasts of the United States and through the Midwest.
Homegrown National Park Movementis a catalyzing a collective effort of individual homeowners, property owners, land managers, farmers, and anyone with some soil to plant in…to start a new HABITAT® by planting native plants and removing most invasive plants. It is the largest cooperative conservation project ever conceived or attempted.
Roots & Shoots, a program of the Jane Goodall Institute, is a global movement of youth who are empowered to use their voice and actions to make compassionate decisions that influence and lead change in their communities. Since 1991 millions of students have taken on the challenge of making the world a better place for people, other animals and the environment we share. Roots & Shoots youth are changing the world. Roots & Shoots is about making positive change happen for people, other animals, and the environment. Roots & Shoots shares a 4-Step Roots & Shoots Formula for identifying and completing a service project in our community. Step 1: Get Engaged and excited about understanding issues. Step 2: Observe and map the needs. Stage 3: Plan and take action based on observation and recognized needs. Stage 4: Celebrate the completion of you project!
The Wisconsin Citizen Based Monitoring Network is a comprehensive stakeholder collaboration designed to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of monitoring efforts by providing coordination, communications, technical and financial resources and recognition to members of the Wisconsin citizen-based monitoring community. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the University of Wisconsin-Extension received funding through Wisconsin’s Wildlife Action Planning Grant to maintain the network. Here are just a few of the projects.