Cover Photo: Rios Saludables de Osa, Costa Rica You or your organization have decided to get involved in citizen science. Great! But where do you begin? Should you start by creating a brand new project around an idea your boss mentioned? Should you join an existing project and add to their data collection efforts? How
Two organizations are stronger than one Community science and citizen science projects are strongest when they involve partnerships between people and/or organizations with diverse areas of expertise. Whether those partnerships are community + university, public + private, local + global, or some other arrangement, collaboration often creates stronger projects and more successful funding! Grants and
Citizen science starts with an idea All citizen science and community science projects begin as ideas. Perhaps you work for a city and are interested in how local greenspaces support pollinators. Or maybe you’re a researcher trying to understand how invasive plants spread. Or you’re a member of your community concerned about how activities affect
Scientific publication is an important milestone for many citizen science projects, that can sometimes feel elusive. But, with a little front-end planning and guidance, it can be done. A paper by the American Trout Lily Project, hosted on CitSci.org, was recently published in the peer-reviewed journal Ecology! Their paper and their process for becoming published provides an
Calling all project managers – we need your training materials! Do you ever wonder how your training materials and approaches influence data quality? You work hard to develop training materials and offer in-person trainings for your volunteers, yet the scholarly literature suggests that, despite your best efforts, land managers and scientists may still question the
A BioBlitz is a rapid species inventory that generally occurs over a 24 hour period with scientists and citizen scientists counting as many species as they can over this time in a given place. The goal of BioBlitz programs is to get the public excited about the science opportunities within their own backyard while at
Celebrating Citizen Scientists Spring is finally here and with it comes Citizen Science Day on April 14th! Join us in celebrating the amazing work of citizen scientists like yourselves from around the world! In this second installment of our Volunteer Spotlight series, you’ll meet a few more of the people behind the projects and hear
Spring is finally here and with it comes Citizen Science Day on April 14th! Join us in celebrating the amazing work of volunteers like yourselves from around the world! Special Volunteers At CitSci.org, we are inspired by the work volunteers do for their projects! We’d like to take this opportunity to share some inspirational stories
What is Stream Tracker? As spotlighted in our March Newsletter, Stream Tracker is a citizen science project funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Citizen Science for Earth Systems Program. It is run out of the Department of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability (ESS) at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, CO. Stream Tracker studies intermittent streams – i.e., streams
When e-coli levels spiked in area waters, Virginia Master Naturalists stepped in to help. As part of a citizen science project, they conducted pre and post-intervention data collection to help determine whether or not management actions were reducing e-coli abundance. Why? Because Virginia is a place they call home. And a new paper by a
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