Abstract: This brief article includes mention of several citizen science projects that will be part of the scientific studies carried out during the upcoming eclipse. – LFF – Excerpt: Prof. Hugh Hudson and Laura Peticolas of the Space Science Laboratory of the University of California, Berkeley, are heading a Megamovie project to use thousands of…
This story has all the elements: a citizen scientist, a mobile phone, and the frankly astonishing complexity of Earth’s ecosystems. Our citizen scientist protagonist, C R Naik, sets a model for how to infuse biodiversity monitoring with vigilant attention. This kind of attention blends multiple senses and sets aside assumptions, letting us dig deeper into…
Abstract: The impact of Crowdsourcing and citizen science activities on academia, businesses, governance and society has been enormous. This is more prevalent today with citizens and communities collaborating with organizations, businesses and authorities to contribute in a variety of manners, starting from mere data providers to being key stakeholders in various decision-making processes. The “Crowdsourcing…
Excerpt: Back in 2002, in his first year as a graduate student at Ohio State University, Joshua Pepper was sitting in his office one day when a professor walked by and asked what he was doing. Nothing much, Pepper said. Good, the professor replied. Then you’ll have time to work on my project. Pepper, an…
Excerpt: A new study published in the journal Biological Conservation reaffirms the key role of citizen science for biodiversity conservation, encouraging further contributions along these lines. “Currently citizens provide a large amount of biodiversity data which are useful in science, but this information has an even greater potential for evaluating biodiversity on a regional and…
This article shows how the power of today’s analysis techniques can be applied to data collected in citizen science projects from 150 years ago to show how climate change is impacting biodiversity. Indeed, citizen science is not a new methodology for collecting data! – LFF – Abstract: Historical species records offer an excellent opportunity to…
Editor’s Choice: This is a blog post from four years ago that makes an interesting claim that the relative lack of citizen science projects in Chemistry is related to the unwillingness of most researchers in that field to carry out “open data” practices. –LFF– Excerpt: Diagnosing cancer often involves identifying potentially cancerous cells in images of large…
Excerpt: Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI) scientists were among those taking part in the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) in San Francisco earlier this month. The December 11-17 gathering, which attracted some 24,000 geoscientists, offered an opportunity for HamSCI scientists to present Amateur Radio-based research, discuss possibilities for upcoming experiments, and…
Abstract: Citizen-science programs have the potential to contribute to the management of invasive species, including Python molurus bivittatus (Burmese Python) in Florida. We characterized citizen-science—generated Burmese Python information from Everglades National Park (ENP) to explore how citizen science may be useful in this effort. As an initial step, we compiled and summarized records of Burmese…
Excerpt: Myriad Sensors launched a first of its kind Citizen Science experiment to test what happens to packages as they are shipped through the mail. The experiment will involve hundreds of packages and millions of data points as sensors travel to people around the globe. Data will include the temperature, humidity, pressure, and orientation of…