Citizen science projects are activities sponsored by a wide variety of organizations so non-scientists can meaningfully contribute to scientific research.
Activities vary widely from transcribing old ship logbooks to digitize the data as part of the Old Weather project to observing and counting birds at home or in the field for eBird. [1] [2] Participation can be as simple as playing a computer game for a project called Eyewire that may help scientists learn more about retinal neurons. [3] It can also be more in depth, such as when citizens collect water quality data over time to assess the health of local waters, or help discover and name new species of insects. [4] [5] An emerging branch of Citizen Science are Community Mapping projects that utilize smartphone and tablet technology. For example, TurtleSAT [6] is a community mapping project that is mapping freshwater turtle deaths throughout Australia.
This list of citizen science projects involves projects that engage all age groups. There are projects specifically aimed at the younger age demographic like iTechExplorers [7] which was created by a 14 year old in the UK to assess the effects of bedtime technology on the body's circadian rhythm and can be completed in a classroom setting. Other projects like AgeGuess [8] focus on the senior demographics and enable the elderly to upload photos of themselves so the public can guess different ages.
Lists of citizen science projects may change. For example, the Old Weather project website indicates that as of [update] January 10, 2015, 51% of the logs were completed. [9] When that project reaches 100 percent, it will move to the completed list.
Citizen scientists anywhere in the world can participate in these projects.
Start | End | Project name | Discipline(s) | Sponsoring organization(s) | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2019 [10] | 2020 | Hubble Asteroid Hunters | Astronomy | Zooniverse, ESA ESDC | Research Paper, Zooniverse |
2011 | 2012 | Ice Investigators [note 1] | Astronomy | CosmoQuest.org [note 2] | |
2011 | 2012 | Moon Mappers: Million crater challenge [note 3] | Planetary Astronomy | CosmoQuest.org [note 2] | |
2022 | ongoing | Spritacular | Meteorology | NASA, Catholic University of America | |
2022 | ongoing | Jovian Vortex Hunter | Astronomy | NASA, Southwest Research Institute, Zooniverse | |
2023 | ongoing | Deciphering Secrets: Unlocking the Manuscripts of Medieval Spain | History | University of Colorado, Zooniverse, University of Madrid, European Union's Seventh FPRTD | |
2022 | ongoing | Cloudspotting On Mars | Astronomy, Planetary Research, Weather | NASA, Zooniverse |
These projects require that citizen scientists be local to a region of study.
Start | End | Project name | Discipline(s) | Sponsoring organization(s) | Country (or region) | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2012 | 2012 | Citizen Sparrow | Ornithology | Bombay Natural History Society | India | |
2019 | Unknown | DustBoy | Air Quality, Environmental science | Unknown | Thailand |
Start | End | Project name | Discipline(s) | Sponsoring organization(s) | Country (or region) | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2010 | 2010 | Big Sleep Survey | Sleep | National Science Week Australia, Australian Broadcasting Corporation | Australia | Big Sleep Survey |
2016 | 2016 | South Australia Great Koala Count 2 | Ecology | Discovery Circle, University of South Australia, University of Adelaide | South Australia | |
2011 | 2011 | The Multi-tasking Test | Cognitive science | National Science Week Australia, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Queensland Brain Institute | Australia | Multi-tasking Test |
2015 | 2015 | Peninsular Malaysia Butterfly Count | Lepidoptery | Museum of Zoology, University of Malaya | Malaysia | Results published [11] |
2012 | 2012 | Sound Check Australia | Audiology | National Science Week Australia, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, National Acoustic Laboratories | Australia | Sound Check Australia |
2001 | 2010 | Value of Patient Testimony | Public Health Research | Case Health Pty Ltd Outcomes: (1) eBook: 'Those Who Suffer Much, Know Much' 2010 http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/104801/20100925-0000/2010.pdf (2) Spurred significant increase in scientific research into LDN (low dose naltrexone) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=%22low-dose+naltrexone%22%5BALL+FIELDS%5D+NOT+(dependence%5BTitle%5D)+NOT+(dependent%5BTitle%5D)+NOT+(oxycodone%5BTitle%5D)+NOT+(withdrawal%5BTitle%5D)+NOT+(cocaine%5BTitle%5D)+NOT+(morphine%5BTitle%5D)+NOT+(itch-related%5BTitle%5D)+NOT+(drinking%5BTitle%5D)+NOT+(alcohol%5BTitle%5D)+NOT+(cigarette%5BTitle%5D)+NOT+(smoker%5BTitle%5D)+NOT+(smoking%5BTitle%5D)+NOT+(smokers%5BTitle%5D)+NOT+(nicotine%5BTitle%5D)+NOT+(detoxification%5BTitle%5D)+NOT+(gambling%5BTitle%5D)+NOT+(self-biting%5BTitle%5D) | Australia | Spurred dramatic increase in scientific research |
Start | End | Project name | Discipline(s) | Sponsoring organization(s) | Country (or region) | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2009 | 2013 | BBC Lab UK | Psychology | BBC, BBC | UK | Discontinued in 2018, see BBC Lab UK |
Start | End | Project name | Discipline(s) | Sponsoring organization(s) | Country (or region) | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1997 | 2007 | Birdhouse Network | Ornithology | Cornell Lab of Ornithology | US | [note 4] |
1994 | 2011 | House Finch Disease Survey | Ornithology | Cornell Lab of Ornithology | North America | [note 5] |
2010 | 2014 | Maryland Amphibian and Reptile Atlas | Herpetology | Natural History Society of Maryland, Inc., Maryland Department of Natural Resources | US (MD) | |
2015 | 2015 | McMaster Postcard Project [12] | Archives, Social Science, History | William Ready Division of Archives and Research Collections at McMaster University Library | Canada | McMaster Postcard Project |
2023 | ongoing | Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring at Elkhorn Slough | Water Quality, Environment | NOAA, California Fish and Wildlife, Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, Monterey County Consolidated Chemistry Lab, Zooniverse | California |
A space telescope is a telescope in outer space used to observe astronomical objects. Suggested by Lyman Spitzer in 1946, the first operational telescopes were the American Orbiting Astronomical Observatory, OAO-2 launched in 1968, and the Soviet Orion 1 ultraviolet telescope aboard space station Salyut 1 in 1971. Space telescopes avoid several problems caused by the atmosphere, including the absorption or scattering of certain wavelengths of light, obstruction by clouds, and distortions due to atmospheric refraction such as twinkling. Space telescopes can also observe dim objects during the daytime, and they avoid light pollution which ground-based observatories encounter. They are divided into two types: Satellites which map the entire sky, and satellites which focus on selected astronomical objects or parts of the sky and beyond. Space telescopes are distinct from Earth imaging satellites, which point toward Earth for satellite imaging, applied for weather analysis, espionage, and other types of information gathering.
The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) is the science operations center for the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), science operations and mission operations center for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), and science operations center for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. STScI was established in 1981 as a community-based science center that is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA). STScI's offices are located on the Johns Hopkins University Homewood Campus and in the Rotunda building in Baltimore, Maryland.
The Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is a major NASA space research laboratory located approximately 6.5 miles (10.5 km) northeast of Washington, D.C., in Greenbelt, Maryland, United States. Established on May 1, 1959, as NASA's first space flight center, GSFC employs about 10,000 civil servants and contractors. Named for American rocket propulsion pioneer Robert H. Goddard, it is one of ten major NASA field centers. GSFC is partially within the former Goddard census-designated place; it has a Greenbelt mailing address.
In physical cosmology, the age of the universe is the time elapsed since the Big Bang. Astronomers have derived two different measurements of the age of the universe: a measurement based on direct observations of an early state of the universe, which indicate an age of 13.787±0.020 billion years as interpreted with the Lambda-CDM concordance model as of 2021; and a measurement based on the observations of the local, modern universe, which suggest a younger age. The uncertainty of the first kind of measurement has been narrowed down to 20 million years, based on a number of studies that all show similar figures for the age. These studies include researches of the microwave background radiation by the Planck spacecraft, the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe and other space probes. Measurements of the cosmic background radiation give the cooling time of the universe since the Big Bang, and measurements of the expansion rate of the universe can be used to calculate its approximate age by extrapolating backwards in time. The range of the estimate is also within the range of the estimate for the oldest observed star in the universe.
The Wild Duck Cluster is an open cluster of stars in the constellation Scutum. It was discovered by Gottfried Kirch in 1681. Charles Messier included it in his catalogue of diffuse objects in 1764. Its popular name derives from the brighter stars forming a triangle which could resemble a flying flock of ducks. The cluster is located just to the east of the Scutum Star Cloud midpoint.
Messier 21 or M21, also designated NGC 6531 or Webb's Cross, is an open cluster of stars located to the north-east of Sagittarius in the night sky, close to the Messier objects M20 to M25. It was discovered and catalogued by Charles Messier on June 5, 1764. This cluster is relatively young and tightly packed. A few blue giant stars have been identified in the cluster, but Messier 21 is composed mainly of small dim stars. With a magnitude of 6.5, M21 is not visible to the naked eye; however, with the smallest binoculars it can be easily spotted on a dark night. The cluster is positioned near the Trifid nebula, but is not associated with that nebulosity. It forms part of the Sagittarius OB1 association.
WASP or Wide Angle Search for Planets is an international consortium of several academic organisations performing an ultra-wide angle search for exoplanets using transit photometry. The array of robotic telescopes aims to survey the entire sky, simultaneously monitoring many thousands of stars at an apparent visual magnitude from about 7 to 13.
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 100,000 members and supporters.
TW Hydrae is a T Tauri star approximately 196 light-years away in the constellation of Hydra. TW Hydrae is about 80% of the mass of the Sun, but is only about 5-10 million years old. The star appears to be accreting from a protoplanetary disk of dust and gas, oriented face-on to Earth, which has been resolved in images from the ALMA observatory. TW Hydrae is accompanied by about twenty other low-mass stars with similar ages and spatial motions, comprising the "TW Hydrae association" or TWA, one of the closest regions of recent "fossil" star-formation to the Sun.
Archeops was a balloon-borne instrument dedicated to measuring the Cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature anisotropies. The study of this radiation is essential to obtain precise information on the evolution of the Universe: density, Hubble constant, age of the Universe, etc. To achieve this goal, measurements were done with devices cooled down at 100mK temperature placed at the focus of a warm telescope. To avoid atmospheric disturbance the whole apparatus is placed on a gondola below a helium balloon that reaches 40 km altitude.
In biology, determination is the process of matching a specimen or sample of an organism to a known taxon, for example identifying a plant as belonging to a particular species. Expert taxonomists may perform this task, but structures created by taxonomists are sometimes used by non-specialists. Modern tools include single or multi-access identification keys, which can be printed or computer-assisted.
The Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) is an online repository of information about Australian plants, animals, and fungi. Development started in 2006. The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an organisation significantly involved in the development of the ALA. The Atlas of Living Australia is the Australian node of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility. The ALA is being used to help assess suitability of revegetation projects by determining species vulnerability to climatic and atmospheric change.
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 and even sound recordings. As of 9 July 2024, iNaturalist users had contributed approximately 197,660,888 observations of plants, animals, fungi, and other organisms worldwide, and 290,007 users were active in the previous 30 days.
Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team (COASST) is a citizen science project of the University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, US, with a goal of monitoring marine ecosystem health with the support of citizens within coastal communities. With the help of hundreds of volunteers, COASST assesses beach conditions and identifies and tracks any carcasses of dead seabirds found. Data on the carcass of a seabird contributes to the creation of a baseline record for the death rates of various species of seabirds, including which beaches birds are found at and in what density. Any irregularities can be identified and evaluated, so the cause of any increased mortality can be identified. COASST works with state, tribal, and federal agencies, environmental organizations, and community groups to help achieve their goals of monitoring and successfully establishing marine conservation solutions.
SciStarter recruits, trains, and equips people for citizen science research projects in need of their help. It was founded by Darlene Cavalier and is a research affiliate of Arizona State University's School for the Future of Innovation in Society. SciStarter is a collection of smart web tools and an event-based organization that connects people to more than 1,200 registered and vetted citizen science projects, events, and tools. New tools, developed by SciStarter with support from the National Science Foundation, enable citizen scientists to find, join, and track their contributions across projects and platforms. The organization's primary goal is to break down barriers preventing non-scientists from fully engaging in scientific research.
WISE 2150–7520 AB is a binary brown dwarf 78.9 light-years distant from Earth in the southern constellation Octans. The system is a wide binary with a separation of 341 astronomical units. The primary of the system was discovered in 2005 as an infrared object with high proper motion and in 2008 was found to be an ultracool dwarf with a spectral type of L. The secondary, a much cooler T dwarf, was discovered by volunteers of the citizen science project Backyard Worlds: Planet 9, using data from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). The system was followed up by the project scientists with Magellan and Spitzer and a scientific paper describing the binary was published in the Astrophysical Journal in 2020.
Craspedotropis gretathunbergae is a species of snail in the family Cyclophoridae. The species was discovered in Brunei by a team of citizen scientists and subsequently named after climate activist Greta Thunberg.
MERMOZ is an astrobiology project designed to remotely detect biosignatures of life. Detection is based on molecular homochirality, a characteristic property of the biochemicals of life. The aim of the project is to remotely identify and characterize life on the planet Earth from space, and to extend this technology to other solar system bodies and exoplanets. The project began in 2018, and is a collaboration of the University of Bern, University of Leiden and Delft University of Technology.
The history of space in Africa is the history of space activity by or sent from Africa.