Day 214 – Do you love science? Are you a big fan of nature? Do you want to help preserve and protect the environment? Well, it couldn’t be any easier to get involved in something that includes all these amazing things. Citizen Science Programs provides opportunities for students, teachers and the public to participate in scientific data collection. Some programs require training, while others do not. Some you can do in your own backyard.
There are Citizen Science Programs around the country and the world. This post will include projects that are nation wide, along with others that are focused on ones found in my home state of Illinois. I will also be sharing the ones that require little to no training. The information shared in this post is directly from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.
Audubon Society Christmas Bird Count
This program is the longest-running, citizen-science project related to birds.The next Christmas Bird Count Tuesday, December 14, 2021 through Wednesday, January 5, 2022. The Christmas Bird Count occurs December 14 to January 5 every year. Sign up to receive information and results about all of Audubon’s community science programs through American Birds, our quarterly newsletter by email.
BeeSpotter is a partnership between citizen scientists and the professional science community designed to educate the public about pollinators by engaging them in a data collection effort of importance to the nation. It is a Web-based portal at the University of Illinois for learning about honey bees and bumble bees and for contributing data to a nationwide effort to collect baseline information on the population status of these insects.
Bumble Bee Watch is a collaborative effort to track and conserve North America’s bumble bees. This community science project allows for individuals to; Upload photos of bumble bees to start a virtual bumble bee collection; Identify the bumble bees in your photos and have your identifications verified by experts; Help researchers determine the status and conservation needs of bumble bees; Help locate rare or endangered populations of bumble bees; Learn about bumble bees, their ecology, and ongoing conservation efforts; and Connect with other community scientists.
Citizen Science Projects at the Field Museum
Projects include Monarch Community Science Project, Collections Club and Helping to Unlock Biodiversity.
Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network
CoCoRaHS, the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network, is a unique, non-profit, community-based network of volunteers of all ages and backgrounds working together to measure and map precipitation (rain, hail and snow). They use low-cost measurement tools, stress training and education and utilize an interactive Web site to provide the highest quality data for natural resource, education and research applications.
FrogWatch USA™ is a citizen-science program of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) that invites individuals and families to learn about wetlands in their communities and help conserve amphibians by reporting data on the calls of local frogs and toads. AZA’s FrogWatch USA™ comprises a national network of skilled coordinators and volunteers who form a community with the goal of providing large-scale, long-term data on frogs and toads in the United States.
Launched in 1998 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society, the Great Backyard Bird Count was the first online citizen-science project to collect data on wild birds and to display results in near real time. More than 160,000 people join the four-day count each February to create an annual snapshot of the distribution and abundance of birds.
Every observation can contribute to biodiversity science, from the rarest butterfly to the most common backyard weed. iNaturalist.org shares findings with scientific data repositories to help scientists find and use your data.
There are several ways for a classrooms to get involved with Monarch Watch. In addition to rearing monarchs, several ongoing research projects rely on student-scientist partnerships.
No matter where you live, city or suburb, from the Midwest to the East Coast, Canada to California, whether squirrels live in your neighborhood or not, you are encouraged to become a squirrel monitor.
So, whether you’re a stay-at-home parent looking for something to do with the kids, or you’re a teacher looking for a cool project with your students, or a retiree looking for a new hobby, contributing to one of these projects would be very helpful and fulfilling.
To see more projects, check out the IDNR’s Citizen Science Programs, Lincoln Park Zoo and National Geographic.
Tomorrow, determining which is greener, shopping for your groceries on-line or in-person.
365 Ways to Save the Planet 