Citizen Science
What…is…Citizen Science?
"Science is our most reliable system of gaining new knowledge, and citizen science is the public involvement in the inquiry and discovery of new scientific knowledge.
"Community science, participatory research, DIY science, crowdsourcing, and public engagement in scientific research, among others, are also terms used to describe this movement. Citizen science is the most widely used term to describe this process of public involvement in scientific research. A citizen science project can involve one person or millions of people collaborating toward a common goal."
Here's a good overview page with video description:
https://scistarter.org/citizen-science
Here is a list of the “Top 20 Citizen Science Projects of 2020”:
http://blog.scistarter.org/featured-projects/2020/12/top-20-citizen-science-projects-of-2020
BioBlitzes are an example of citizen, or community, science. And the CNCBC using the iNaturalist app is the most well-known BioBlitz. As you can see from the link above: iNaturalist was the 4th most joined project, had the 2nd most contributions, and was the 14th most bookmarked of all Citizen Science Projects.
*Make sure to download iNaturalist’s easy to use companion app Seek. Younger children (well it’s great for any age) can use it to help ID flora and fauna. Actually, it’s great to practice with Seek first because it helps you learn how close you need to be to get a good ID.
Here are the primary organizations involved with citizen science:
CitSci.org
http://www.citsci.org
CitSci.org supports your research by providing tools and resources that allow you to customize your scientific procedure - all in one location on the internet. As your partner in research, CitSci.org provides tools for the entire research process including: creating new projects, managing project members, building custom data sheets, analyzing collected data, and gathering participant feedback.
--
Citizenscience.gov
https://www.citizenscience.gov/
Citizenscience.gov is an official government website designed to accelerate the use of crowdsourcing and citizen science across the U.S. government. The site provides a portal to three key assets for federal practitioners: a searchable catalog of federally supported citizen science projects, a toolkit to assist with designing and maintaining projects, and a gateway to a federal community of practice to share best practices.
--
Citizen Science Alliance (CSA)
http://www.citizensciencealliance.org
The CSA is a collaboration of scientists, software developers and educators who collectively develop, manage and utilize internet-based citizen science projects in order to further science itself, and the public understanding of both science and of the scientific process. These projects use the time, abilities and energies of a distributed community of citizen scientists who are our collaborators. Our projects live within the ‘Zooniverse’, the home of Citizen Science on the web: the world’s largest and most popular platform for people-powered research. Each is inspired by a science team who provide the initial ideas, the reassurance that what we’re doing can make a real contribution and an audience who are willing to use the end result. We are working with a wide variety of partners, from classicists to climate scientists and ecologists to planetary scientists. View all projects: https://www.zooniverse.org/projects
--
Citizen Science Association (CSA)
http://citizenscience.org/
The Citizen Science Association is a member-driven organization that connects people from a wide range of experiences around one shared purpose: advancing knowledge through research and monitoring done by, for, and with members of the public. Citizen science – the most recognizable term for this practice – is expanding the reach, relevance, and impact of science in almost every area of inquiry; in the field and online; through local and global efforts. With increased attention to citizen science, CSA brings depth to how citizen science is understood both as public engagement and as research, and shines a light on the integrity and complexity of the practice.
-Citizen Science: Theory & Practice (journal): https://theoryandpractice.citizenscienceassociation.org/
--
SciStarter
https://scistarter.org/
SciStarter is a globally acclaimed, online citizen science hub where more than 3,000 projects, searchable by location, topic, age level, etc., have been registered by individual project leaders or imported through partnerships with federal governments, NGOs, and universities. As a research affiliate of the School for the Future of Innovation in Society at the Arizona State University, and a popular citizen science portal, SciStarter hosts an active community of close to 100,000 registered citizen scientists and millions of additional site visitors. Hundreds of citizen science projects use SciStarter's NSF-supported APIs to help citizen scientists earn credit for their participation in their SciStarter dashboard, across projects and platforms. These features enable SciStarter's partners (libraries, schools, museums, Girl Scouts and more) to catalyze customized citizen science pathways and track and support the progress of their communities through SciStarter. SciStarter also supports researchers in managing projects, including best practices for engaging participant partners.
-Also from SciStarter:
The Library & Community Guide to Citizen Science
http://blog.scistarter.org/2020/12/the-library-community-guide-to-citizen-science/
Libraries are quickly becoming hubs for citizen science. Your library may already be involved in citizen science programming. If so, bravo! For countless others, citizen science is still a bit of a mystery. We created this guide to help you navigate the rapidly changing landscape, access resources, learn about projects and programs and explore a myriad of opportunities to support your plans to bring citizen science to your library or community-based organization (CBO).
--
Zooniverse
https://www.zooniverse.org/
A vibrant community. Zooniverse gives people of all ages and backgrounds the chance to participate in real research with over 50 active online citizen science projects. Work with 1.6 million registered users around the world to contribute to research projects led by hundreds of researchers.
--
Scientific American also has a pretty comprehensive list of citizen science projects:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/citizen-science/
Comments
Add a Comment