SciStarter

So many people love nature and learning about the world around them; they’re curious, concerned and they want to make a difference. The good news is all of these people, of all ages, can do real science, at any time, by becoming citizen scientists! Citizen scientists volunteer to collect or analyze
data, moving science forward and helping researchers understand how things work — with all types of science, from astronomy to health to zoology.

SciStarter is the world’s largest citizen science community and a place where you can discover citizen science. Join Caroline Nickerson of the SciStarter team for an introduction to citizen science, demos of real projects and ideas for how anyone can get started and make a difference — especially when introducing citizen science as an educator.

Caroline Nickerson Program Manager, SciStarter

SciStarter is a globally acclaimed, online citizen science hub where more than 3,000 projects, searchable by location, topic, age level, etc, have been registered by individual project leaders or imported through partnerships with federal governments, NGOs, and universities. As a research affiliate of NCSU and ASU, and a popular citizen science portal, SciStarter hosts an active community of close to 100,000 registered citizen scientists and millions of additional site visitors. Hundreds of citizen science projects use SciStarter's NSF-supported APIs to help citizen scientists earn credit for their participation in their SciStarter dashboard, across projects and platforms. These features enable SciStarter's partners (libraries, schools, museums, Girl Scouts and more) to catalyze customized citizen science pathways and track and support the progress of their communities through SciStarter. SciStarter also supports researchers in managing projects, including best practices for engaging participant partners.

Resources mentioned in video:

Learn more about Citizen Science Month

NewZealand-based Citizen Science

Identify amphibians and reptiles with this app

Learn how to participate in Citizen Science Projects

NASA's GLOBE Citizen Science

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