I am really interested in science, in research, and in learning new things. I’m not a scientist. But all of this is just cool to see. With science funding being so restrictive (yeah: libraries and schools know all about that!), more scientists are reaching out to all of us to help contribute.

So, I’m not a scientist. And that’s kind of a bummer. But I can be a citizen scientist, and feel like I’m helping!

And, you guys? I am so there for all of this!

As libraries are all about gathering information, and sharing new ideas with people, we wanted to share these citizen science projects with you. Try them for yourself, or pass these along to your patrons! (How fun would it be to have a science project in your library where you and your students could really contribute to a science project? So fun!)

You can hear more about these projects on the Science Friday podcast.

There are some citizen science projects happening right here in Minnesota. Check out the Univ of MN Extension Office for more info!

Scout for bees

Bee Atlas is a citizen science volunteer program working to create a state-wide list of native bees found in Minnesota.

Become a Master Naturalist volunteer

Any adult who is curious and enjoys learning about the natural world can become a Master Naturalist.

Teach citizen science

The Driven to Discover program provides educators the tools and resources needed to help engage kids in the natural world using citizen science.

Track deer damage in woods

Assessing Vegetation Impacts from Deer (AVID) volunteers collect data to monitor the impacts of deer on vegetation in Minnesota woodlands.

Stream Selfie

What’s in YOUR water? We all have the right to know if the streams running through our backyards and neighborhood parks are safe. But there is an alarming lack of up-to-date information about water quality across the country. Stream Selfie is here to bridge that information gap.

Stream Selfie connects you with thousands of other citizen scientists to paint a picture of streams across America. Simply snap a pic of your local stream and share it here.

Your photo is step one in our effort to check the health of every stream in the country – far more streams than state and local agencies have the resources to check!

Thousands of people are working toward a common goal: clean water. Will you join us?

Never Home Alone: The Wild Life of Our Homes

This project aims to document the species that live indoors with humans, including but not exclusive to arthropods. In studying the arthropods (insects and their kin) in Raleigh, North Carolina we found more than one thousand species in homes. As we have studied homes in other cities, we have found even more species, some of them new to science, virtually all of them poorly studied. No one is ever really home alone. With this new iNaturalist project we now seek your help in recording the species in homes around the world. We suspect that in boldly studying basements, bedrooms and bathrooms that together we can make big new discoveries even before we open the front door.

Citizen Weather Observer Program

The Citizen Weather Observer Program (CWOP) is a public-private partnership with three goals: 1) to collect weather data contributed by citizens; 2) to make these data available for weather services and homeland security; and 3) to provide feedback to the data contributors so they have the tools to check and improve their data quality. In fact, the web address, wxqa.com, stands for weather quality assurance.

eBird

eBird is the world’s largest biodiversity-related citizen science project, with more than 100 million bird sightings contributed each year by eBirders around the world. A collaborative enterprise with hundreds of partner organizations, thousands of regional experts, and hundreds of thousands of users, eBird is managed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Globe at Night

Globe at Night is an international citizen-science campaign to raise public awareness of the impact of light pollution by inviting citizen-scientists to measure & submit their night sky brightness observations.

So far in 2019 citizen scientists from around the world have contributed 4,201 data points! Help us achieve our goal of 15,000 data points this year!