By This was originally published as the second in a series of December 2025 CitSci newsletters. Want citizen science in your inbox? Subscribe today. From code to conservation — your support powers student changemakers.
Hello, CitSci community!
CitSci is for people of all ages – anyone who wants to do great science. But did you know that many students are behind the platform you know and love?
From designing platform features to launching their own research projects, your support makes it possible to pay these rising changemakers. Without you, they can’t build tools that shape the future of participatory science.
Your contributions fund paid internships, mentoring, and training for the next generation of scientists, developers, and community leaders.
Meet some of the innovators:
Brandon Budnicki – Brandon Budnicki, CitSci’s Lead Developer, is a PhD candidate at CSU. This year, he won the “Rising Star of the Year Award” at the Science Gateways Center of Excellence Conference, and a best poster award at the Conference for Advancing Participatory Sciences (check it out!).
Madison Stroker – Madison Stroker is an intern at CitSci and an undergraduate student studying Ecosystem Science and Sustainability at CSU. Last year, she led a CitSci project focused on wetland conservation (with support from CSU Extension, Friends of the Lower Blue River, Colorado Parks and Wildlife), and today she is still advancing engagement and outreach efforts at CitSci.
Sean Geer – Sean Geer, a graduate student at CSU, has worked with CitSci for multiple years on many projects, including a teaching internship and writing an op-ed for a newspaper.
Melissa May – Melissa May, an Ecosystem Science and Sustainability student at CSU, wears many hats. She has done both science communication – running EcoPress, CSU’s Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory’s blog – and research. With CitSci, she analyzed over 1,000 projects to understand how people around the world engage in participatory science.
This giving season, $10, $20, or more provides meaningful work and learning experiences for students—and who knows, they might be working for you one day!
CitSci.org Blog 