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Type of site | Citizen science web portal |
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Available in | English, Vietnamese, German, Romanian, Polish, Spanish |
Owner | MDI Biological Laboratory |
URL | www |
Commercial | No |
Current status | Online |
Anecdata.org (often shortened to Anecdata) is a citizen science web portal developed by the Community Environmental Health Lab at the MDI Biological Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine. [1] Anecdata.org supports projects in the collection of observational data, primarily in environmental science, biology, and public health. [2] Anecdata was founded in 2014 to provide a data management system for the citizen science projects run by the Community Environmental Health Lab and has since expanded to include more than 200 projects, where more than 8,000 registered users have contributed over 30,000 images and more than 50,000 observations. [3] In addition to the desktop site, there is a corresponding mobile app that can be used to submit observations to existing projects. [3] Anecdata.org also acts as a data repository where data can be stored, discovered, and shared to other users. [4]
The Litter-Free Digital Journal is a project from the South Carolina Aquarium hosted on Anecdata.org with a custom app, that encourages participants to track and remove plastics and other litter from both land and water. [5] Users Since the start of the project in 2016, data from more than 7,000 litter cleanups have been entered into the project by more than 1,500 citizen scientists. [5] In 2017, a total of 9,746 pieces of trash were logged and 2,333 total litter pieces in 2018. However, in 2019 the number of litter pieces recorded grew to 32,600 and in 2020, more than doubled, with 74,977 pieces of trash collected and logged. [6] The data from this project has inspired participant activism [7] and has been used to influence public policy in South Carolina, including plastic bag bans. [8]
The Great Green Crab Hunt project is a citizen science project led by the University of New Hampshire and the New Hampshire Sea Grant and hosted on Anecdata.org. The project aims to support scientists and policymakers in finding solutions to the problems caused by the invasive species, European green crabs. [9] The project uses a mobile app and participants document the number, shell hardness, sex, and size of crabs seen during one hour. [10] Since the project's inception in 2019, more than 100 observations documenting more than 400 crabs have been added to the project. [9]
Citizen science is research conducted with participation from the general public, or amateur/nonprofessional researchers or participants for science, social science and many other disciplines. There are variations in the exact definition of citizen science, with different individuals and organizations having their own specific interpretations of what citizen science encompasses. Citizen science is used in a wide range of areas of study including ecology, biology and conservation, health and medical research, astronomy, media and communications and information science.
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is a member-supported unit of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, which studies birds and other wildlife. It is housed in the Imogene Powers Johnson Center for Birds and Biodiversity in Sapsucker Woods Sanctuary. Approximately 250 scientists, professors, staff, and students work in a variety of programs devoted to the Lab's mission: interpreting and conserving the Earth's biological diversity through research, education, and citizen science focused on birds. Work at the Lab is supported primarily by its 75,000 members.
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The Ocean Wise Shoreline Cleanup is a conservation initiative of the Ocean Wise Conservation Association. Shoreline Cleanups offer a unique opportunity for anyone to take action and make a positive impact in their community alongside friends, family, or colleagues. By participating in a cleanup anywhere water meets land, people can help reduce the amount of litter that ends up in our ocean. Additionally, the litter data collected by volunteers during the cleanup provides Ocean Wise and partners with essential information for addressing pollution at its source.
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The MDI Biological Laboratory (MDIBL), formerly known as Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory is an independent non-profit biomedical research institution founded in 1898 and located in Salisbury Cove, Maine, on Mount Desert Island. Its mission is to improve human health and well- being through basic research, education, and development ventures that transform discoveries into cures. In 2013, the Laboratory was designated a Center for Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) by the National Institutes of Health, which awarded the Laboratory a grant of $13 million over five years to expand the institution's research program. The MDI Biological Laboratory has a full-time staff of 63, and will offer 23 research training courses in 2014.
iNaturalist is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit social network of naturalists, citizen scientists, and biologists built on the concept of mapping and sharing observations of biodiversity across the globe. iNaturalist may be accessed via its website or from its mobile applications. iNaturalist includes an automated species identification tool, and users further assist each other in identifying organisms from photographs. As of 24 February 2024, iNaturalist users had contributed approximately 172,751,520 observations of plants, animals, fungi, and other organisms worldwide, and around 350,000 users were active in the previous 30 days.
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The City Nature Challenge is an annual, global, community science competition to document urban biodiversity. The challenge is a bioblitz that engages residents and visitors to find and document plants, animals, and other organisms living in urban areas. The goals are to engage the public in the collection of biodiversity data, with three awards each year for the cities that make the most observations, find the most species, and engage the most people.
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