The Flint water crisis has caused all sorts of reflections on citizen science practice; this blog, from Scientific American, examines the broad range of science communication that attempts to make dialogue between public and (professional) scientists a two-way street. –Chris Comedian Lily Tomlin once asked, “Why is it when we talk to God we’re said…

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In 2011, the New York Public Library (NYPL) released 9,000 digitized restaurant menus with “delicious data” that had been “frozen as pixels,” making the menus difficult to search, index, and discover online. Along with the menus, the NYPL launched an interface that asked the public to help transcribe the thousands of menus and the hundreds…

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Public participation in scientific research has surged in popularity and prominence in recent years through the connections of the world wide web, an explosion of smartphone pocket computing power, and a slow cultural change within professional science toward a more open and welcoming research environment. Today, the White House affirmed the potential for citizen science…

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Welcome to the First Edition of Citizen Science Today! By Chris Lintott and Lucy Fortson We’re delighted to announce the launch of Citizen Science Today as the latest PressForward publication, presented by the Zooniverse and our friends from the growing community of researchers and practitioners of citizen science. Citizen science – the involvement of non-professionals…

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A group of conservation, animal welfare, and media groups filed suit challenging the state of Wyoming for its data trespassing laws passed in the 2015 session. Plaintiffs Western Watersheds Project, National Press Photographers Association, Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, and the Center for Food Safety filed the lawsuit…

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A desert horned lizard was one of several species of lizards found by researchers during a survey of reptiles in Joshua Tree National Park on April 1. Scientists with UC Riverside and the national park have been working with volunteers to survey plants and animals in a project that aims to track the effects of…

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