List of citizen science projects

Last updated

Citizen science projects are activities sponsored by a wide variety of organizations so non-scientists can meaningfully contribute to scientific research.

Contents

Precis

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 January 10, 2015, 51% of the logs were completed. [9] When that project reaches 100 percent, it will move to the completed list.

Worldwide

Citizen scientists anywhere in the world can participate in these projects.

StartEndProject nameDiscipline(s)Sponsoring organization(s)Notes
2019 [10] 2020Hubble Asteroid Hunters Astronomy Zooniverse, ESA ESDC Research Paper, Zooniverse
20112012Ice Investigators [note 1] Astronomy CosmoQuest.org [note 2]
20112012Moon Mappers: Million crater challenge [note 3] Planetary Astronomy CosmoQuest.org [note 2]
2022ongoingSpritacular Meteorology NASA, Catholic University of America
2022ongoingJovian Vortex Hunter Astronomy NASA, Southwest Research Institute, Zooniverse
2023ongoingDeciphering Secrets: Unlocking the Manuscripts of Medieval Spain History University of Colorado, Zooniverse, University of Madrid, European Union's Seventh FPRTD
2022ongoingCloudspotting On Mars Astronomy, Planetary Research, Weather NASA, Zooniverse

Regional

These projects require that citizen scientists be local to a region of study.

Asia

StartEndProject nameDiscipline(s)Sponsoring organization(s)Country (or region)Notes
20122012 Citizen Sparrow Ornithology Bombay Natural History Society India
2019Un­knownDustBoy Air Quality, Environmental science Un­knownThailand

Australasia

StartEndProject nameDiscipline(s)Sponsoring organization(s)Country (or region)Notes
20102010Big Sleep Survey Sleep National Science Week Australia, Australian Broadcasting Corporation AustraliaBig Sleep Survey
20162016South Australia Great Koala Count 2 Ecology Discovery Circle, University of South Australia, University of Adelaide South Australia
20112011The Multi-tasking Test Cognitive science National Science Week Australia, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Queensland Brain InstituteAustraliaMulti-tasking Test
20152015Peninsular Malaysia Butterfly Count Lepidoptery Museum of Zoology, University of Malaya MalaysiaResults published [11]
20122012Sound Check Australia Audiology National Science Week Australia, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, National Acoustic LaboratoriesAustraliaSound Check Australia
20012010Value of Patient TestimonyPublic Health ResearchCase 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)

AustraliaSpurred dramatic increase in scientific research

Europe

StartEndProject nameDiscipline(s)Sponsoring organization(s)Country (or region)Notes
20092013BBC Lab UK Psychology BBC, BBC UKDiscontinued in 2018, see BBC Lab UK

North America

StartEndProject nameDiscipline(s)Sponsoring organization(s)Country (or region)Notes
19972007Birdhouse Network Ornithology Cornell Lab of Ornithology US [note 4]
19942011House Finch Disease Survey Ornithology Cornell Lab of Ornithology North America [note 5]
20102014Maryland Amphibian and Reptile Atlas Herpetology Natural History Society of Maryland, Inc., Maryland Department of Natural ResourcesUS (MD)
20152015McMaster Postcard Project [12] Archives, Social Science, History William Ready Division of Archives and Research Collections at McMaster University Library CanadaMcMaster Postcard Project
2023ongoingVolunteer 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

See also

Notes

  1. Formerly Ice Hunters, a project to identify potential targets in the Kuiper belt for the New Horizons spacecraft after it completes its mission to Pluto.
  2. 1 2 CosmoQuest is sponsored by NASA in partnership with the Astrosphere New Media Association, the STEM Center, UniverseToday, Astronomers without Borders, the Planetary Society, the Ward Beecher Planetarium, the Galileo Teachers Training Program, Swinburne Astronomy Online, Dark Skies, Bright Kids, the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre and its member organizations, the Galileoscope Project and several NASA projects.
  3. Over a million craters were identified and mapped in late 2012. As of March 2012, 1,207,486 craters have been identified and mapped by the Moon Mappers parent project that continues.
  4. Formerly The Birdhouse Network which only monitored nests in bird boxes and similar artificial cavities. NestWatch is a new project that collects observations of open nests as well.
  5. Per the project website, this project was absorbed into the current FeederWatch project.

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Space Telescope Science Institute</span> Science operations center operated by NASA

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goddard Space Flight Center</span> NASAs first space research laboratory

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Age of the universe</span> Time elapsed since the Big Bang

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wild Duck Cluster</span> Open cluster in the constellation Scutum

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messier 21</span> Open cluster in the constellation Sagittarius

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wide Angle Search for Planets</span> Exoplanet search project

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Citizen science</span> Amateur scientific research

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">TW Hydrae</span> T Tauri star in the constellation Hydra

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archeops</span>

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iNaturalist Website and app for sharing biodiversity observations

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team</span> Marine ecosystem citizen science project

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WISE 2150−7520</span> Star in the constellation Octans

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.

<i>Craspedotropis gretathunbergae</i> Snail from Borneo named after Greta Thunberg

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MERMOZ</span> Way of remotely detecting living matter

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.

References

  1. Mapes, Lynda V. (February 16, 2013). "Citizen scientists can be climate sleuths too". Seattle Times. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  2. Robbins, Jim (August 19, 2013). "Crowdsourcing, for the birds". New York Times. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
  3. "Update: EyeWire". Scientific American. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  4. Schilthuizen, Menno; Seip, Lilian; Otani, Sean; Suhaimi, Jadda; Njunjić, Iva (2017-06-12). "Three new minute leaf litter beetles discovered by citizen scientists in Maliau Basin, Malaysian Borneo (Coleoptera: Leiodidae, Chrysomelidae)". Biodiversity Data Journal. 5 (5): e21947. doi: 10.3897/bdj.5.e21947 . ISSN   1314-2828. PMC   5740419 . PMID   29308046.
  5. "National Monitoring Network of the National Water Quality Monitoring Council".
  6. "TurtleSAT Community Program > Home".
  7. "iTech Explorers". SciStarter. Retrieved 2020-02-06.
  8. "AgeGuess". SciStarter. Retrieved 2020-02-06.
  9. "old Weather". Zooniverse. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  10. Kruk, Sandor; Martín, Pablo García; Popescu, Marcel; Merín, Bruno; Mahlke, Max; Carry, Benoît; Thomson, Ross; Karadağ, Samet; Durán, Javier; Racero, Elena; Giordano, Fabrizio; Baines, Deborah; Marchi, Guido de; Laureijs, René (2022-05-01). "Hubble Asteroid Hunter - I. Identifying asteroid trails in Hubble Space Telescope images". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 661: A85. arXiv: 2202.00246 . doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202142998. ISSN   0004-6361. S2CID   241469611.
  11. Wilson, John-James; Jisming-See, Shi-Wei; Brandon-Mong, Guo-Jie; Lim, Aik-Hean; Lim, Voon-Ching; Lee, Ping-Shin; Sing, Kong-Wah (2015-11-12). "Citizen Science: The First Peninsular Malaysia Butterfly Count". Biodiversity Data Journal. 3 (3): e7159. doi: 10.3897/BDJ.3.e7159 . ISSN   1314-2828. PMC   4700385 . PMID   26751033.
  12. Thompson, Nicole (27 Aug 2015). "McMaster crowd-sources archival postcard project". Hamilton Spectator. Retrieved 27 Aug 2015.