This morning, my son spotted a squirrel from our window and said “Mom, hurry, take a picture!” (He’s grown accustomed to spotting and photographing squirrels, birds and insects for various citizen science projects. In this case, it’s for Project Squirrel.) I grabbed my iphone and, using its built in camera, snapped away as the squirrel proceeded to climb down the fence…

Reach into our garbage to nab some grub. Yes, yes, this probably wouldn’t have happened if the bag of trash were IN, not ON, the trash can.

And head back up to its perch.

This all took less than 3 seconds.

All the while I’ve blamed this behavior on our Labrodoodle, Flower. (Ok, she’s probably a major culprit, too.)

The moral of this story is, try to take a few minutes today to observe the natural world around you because you’re bound to notice something new and interesting. If you happen to spot squirrels and robins, please observe their surroundings and behaviors and share your observations with researchers at Project Squirrel and the National Phenology Network. You can do the latter on the Changing Planet page here on Sci4Cits, through our partnership with the Phenology Network, the National Science Foundation, NBC, Discover Magazine and Planet Forward.

Today is Earth Day, a perfect excuse to get out and help the planet!

Researchers need YOUR help tracking the presence of American robins, so they can compare your observations with other environmental data, including climate and weather changes.  American robins are arriving in the Colorado Rockies 14 days earlier than they did 30 years ago and have been spotted in parts of Alaska for the first time. Because robins consume a wide variety of foods, an increase or decrease in their population may indicate (or impact) changes in other animal and plant species. It’s time for you to get involved and help the planet!

All you have to do:

1. Spot a robin
2. Record the date and location
3. Take note of its activity (what is it doing? what is it eating? is it near other birds?)
4. Share your results

This project is part the Changing Planet series, presented by the National Science Foundation, NBC News, Discover Magazine, Science For Citizens and Planet Forward. Changing Planet” is a series of three televised Town Hall meetings, hosted by Tom Brokaw of NBC News, on what climate change means. The first event, held at Yale, airs on the Weather Channel tonight at 8pm ET. We’ll also post the video here on Monday, April 25.

Here are four other awesome projects to start on Earth Day:

	Earth Day Photo and Essay Contest: Celebrate Earth Day with middle school students (grades 5-8) across the country by taking a photograph of something changing in your local environment. Then, research and write an essay about the photograph. The Institute for Global Environmental Strategies will award a variety of prizes, including a digital camera, digital photo frame and digital photo keychain, and more. Send in your pictures by April 29, 2011!
	Sound Around You: Help researchers build a sound map of the world as part of a study into how sounds in our everyday environment make us feel. Just use your mobile phone (or other recording device) to record 10 to 15 second clips from different sound environments, or “soundscapes” – anything from the inside of a family car to a busy shopping center. Then, upload the clips to a virtual map!
	Cloned Plants Project: Plant a lilac and contribute to a phenology monitoring project over 50 years in existence! Participants plant a lilac clone and record observations of recurring life cycle stages such as leafing and flowering on the USA National Phenology Network webpage. Observations of cloned plants help predict crop yields and bloom dates of other species, control insects and disease, and assist with monitoring the impact of global climate change.
	BeeSpotter: Get out there with your camera and capture some good pictures of bees! Researchers need your help better understand bee demographics in the state of Illinois. You’ll help BeeSpotter researchers establish a baseline for monitoring bee population declines and learn about bees in the process.

Looking for more citizen science opportunities? Sign up for the Science for Citizens newsletter!

You’re invited to join Science for Citizens at the Philadelphia Science Festival Carnival on the Ben Franklin Parkway this Saturday, April 16!

The festival promises to be an event like no other, with over 80 exhibitors offering non-stop family-friendly experiments, interactive activities, games, and a packed line-up of live entertainment. Best of all, the event is free, open to all ages, and requires absolutely no pre-registration.

The Science for Citizens team will be there to host our own exhibit (Booth 62), featuring two different opportunities for you to participate in hands-on scientific research. Come and join the fun. We hope to see you this weekend!

Researchers need YOUR help tracking the presence of American robins, so they can compare your observations with other environmental data. If you spot a robin at the festival, record the time and note its activity. Then visit our booth to log your data. The person who logs the most robin sightings wins a prize!

Did you know that you can contribute to science by blowing bubbles? It’s true! We’ll be creating our very own “bubble cones” and launching bubbles into the air. Then, you’ll  simply record in which direction and how far the bubbles travel.  All of this data will be submitted to the Open Air Laboratory in support their larger effort to study how obstacles in our environment affect the speed and direction of wind around us.

Sign up for the Science for Citizens newsletter!

Energy is a strange thing.  It floats around you, fills you up until you’re about ready to burst, and then it skips off, leaving you to keep up as best you can.  Last Thursday and Friday were two full days of such energy, when 60 professionals from such exotic places as Alaska, Colombia and New Jersey got together to discuss why and how public participation in scientific research (PPSR) is necessary if we are to save the world’s biodiversity.  The amazing thing about this workshop wasn’t so much that these people had a similar goal (after all, who doesn’t want to save the world?), but rather that the participants brought such a diversity of backgrounds, academic disciplines and institutions to the table.

Although the participation of citizens in scientific research goes back centuries, it is only very recently that there has been a push and pull from many different areas, leading to an amazing expansion of this kind of research and a demand for new ideas, ways to engage, and methods to understand how and why this can ultimately lead us forward in conservation.  The 50+ projects that were represented during this workshop illustrated this expansion not only by what they had in common – citizen engagement, data collection, and links to better conservation management – but also by what they didn’t.  While some projects, like FrogWatch USA or Monarch Larva Monitoring Project, invite participants from across the United States to collect data on a wide geographical scale, other projects such as Ndee bini’ bida’ilzaahi (Pictures of Apache Land) and the Fresno Bird Count are place-specific, uniquely adapted to the needs of their local community and natural environment. Read the rest of this entry »

An adult Red-shouldered Hawk. Photo: Brian L. Sullivan

As spring revs up to full gear, I enjoy taking runs around my neighborhood to enjoy the colorful bursts of flower and bits of cheerful birdsong. If you too have a soft-spot for feathered creatures, consider becoming a citizen science observer for one of these three great projects!

If you live in a city or town, the first project is for you! The Cornell Lab of Ornithology runs a year-round celebration of urban birds. Right now there’s a contest on to see who can spot the craziest nesting place for birds. The funky nests in funky places challenge asks contestants to peer into and over anything they can think of to spot a nesting spot. Any nests on top of a telephone pole nearby? What about in that old woodpile out back? A previous contestant found a nest inside an old tractor!

Sneak up to the funky nest and take a picture (without disturbing the nesting occupants!) then email your story and photo to urbanbirds@cornell.edu before June 1st to be considered.

For birders in the city or country, sign up with eBird, a world-wide, online bird-monitoring program gearing up to collect tons of bird-related data in 2011. Consider contributing your time (or funds) to their amazing effort to catalogue bird ranges throughout the western hemisphere (and beyond!). Over the past few years, the number of observations submitted by citizen scientists like you has grown by leaps and bounds. In 2010 alone, they report that over 1.3 million hours were spent by birders gathering data for eBird checklists!

This year eBird is working to make the collected data more accessible, through animated migration maps and other viewing tools. For now, you can take a look at the data they’ve already collected.

An American Oystercatcher on the Atlantic seashore. Photo: AOWG

Finally, for those of you on the eastern seaboard, from Massachusetts down to Florida, keep an eye out for American Oystercatchers with colorful plastic bands on.

The bands were put on by scientists to help us better understand the migration patterns and habitat of these birds to aid conservation efforts. The color of the bling tells you in what state(s) the bird has been banded.

To report a sighting, fill out this online form.

Did you know that you can contribute to science by blowing bubbles? It’s true! The Open Air Laboratories (OPAL) network is asking citizen scientists in England to use bubbles to calculate wind direction and speed.

All you need to do is create a “bubble cone” using a piece of paper and some tape. Then, with some bubble solution, you’re ready to start launching bubbles and recording in which direction and how far they travel. Researchers on OPAL’s Climate Survey will use this data to investigate how human activities affect the climate.

This is just one of five easy ways that you can help scientists study the state of England’s natural environment. OPAL’s projects offer a wide range of opportunities to study biodiversity, soil health, air and water quality, and the impact of humans on climate.

The best part: people from all age groups and skill levels can participate, and the project website offers easy step-by-step instructions. It usually doesn’t take more than an hour to make an important contribution to science.

Check out the full list of projects! For more information, visit the official OPAL website.

Sometimes you just have to get started...

During the past week, I’ve experienced nature from a state of semiconsciousness in my bed. Almost every morning, the same lonely male cardinal practices his songs for spring, occasionally interrupted by a pair of blue jays imitating a hawk or a small flock of monk parakeets flying overhead from their nests.

There’s something special about doing citizen science from your bedroom with your eyes closed – even if I have yet to find a project that will accept data that is taken while you’re half-asleep.

A couple of days ago, I had a brilliant idea: citizen science from the comfort of my bed! I can count the stars, peer through my window at birds (which has the additional benefit of freaking out the neighbors), and measure snow accumulating on my fire escape – all without experiencing the February cold!

I tried this for a couple of hours one morning, attempting to conduct as many scientific experiments as possible from my 8×4 foot bedroom. Yet, something was missing from the experience. I found myself getting bored and my mind floating between the unread emails in my inbox and the uneaten chocolate in the refrigerator. So, the next morning, I threw on some warm clothes, filled up a travel mug with hot coffee, and headed over to Prospect Park to figure out what was missing.

Read the rest of this entry »

Scouts participating in The Great Backyard Bird Count 2010. (Photo: Veronica Stewart, South Carolina, birdsource.org)

Shake off your Valentine’s Day chocolate-induced haze and break out those binoculars: The Great Backyard Bird Count 2011 takes place this Friday through next Monday, February 18 to 21.

The Great Backyard Bird Count is an annual four-day event during which bird watchers count birds to create a real-time snapshot of where birds are located across the continent. In as little as 15 minutes a day, you can help scientists learn how climate, disease, and habitat changes are affecting bird populations. Plus, you’ll have fun checking out your backyard visitors.

Last year’s event was a huge success. Bird watchers across the continent submitted nearly 100,000 checklists, reporting more than 600 species — a new participation record. This year, we can do better!

The Great Backyard Bird Count is free, fun, and easy, and it helps the birds. In addition, yearly data collection makes the information more meaningful and allows scientists to investigate far-reaching questions. For example, the data can be used to better inform scientists about certain species that may require more research.

We’d love to know about your experiences taking part in this year’s event. Post a comment below, share a picture on our Facebook Fan Page, or send us a tweet!

Read the rest of this entry »

Record and share wildlife encounters with WildObs' suite of smartphone apps. Photo: WildObs

Ever spotted an amazing critter and wanted to tell your nature-loving friends where it was located? Ever wondered where you could view a white-tailed jackrabbit? WildObs is the app for you!

Short for “wildlife observations,” the WildObs website and suite of iPhone and Android apps allow nature enthusiasts to record wildlife observations and then share photos, stories, and locations of these sightings with other interested people. In short, WildObs is working to connect people, places, and wildlife.

Want to know where to find a Bohemian Waxwing? Looks like one was recently sighted near Manchester, NH! Hoping to spot a baboon? Well, another fellow had luck seeing one in Amboseli National Park in Kenya!

Members post sightings and also list their hopes for sightings-to-come. The most wished-for observation these days is the reclusive cougar.

The WildObs iPhone collection, including Naturalist, Observer, Lookout, and Lookup allows spotters to record their viewing events in near real-time and to figure out what species they are looking at. The app uses GPS to tag the wherebouts of your own sightings, and will also let you see what animals fellow WildObs members have spotted near your current location. To learn how to use WildObs, check out their “how to” videos.

Read the rest of this entry »

Below, I’ve listed the top 5 Science For Citizens member blog posts according to the number of visits received. It’s easy to start your very own Sci4Ctis member blog. Start sharing your adventures with other citizen scientists!

5. Rent a Remote-Controlled Telescope! From Michael
It’s pretty hard to be an amateur astronomer without your own telescope–or is it? Michael blogs about the Global Rent-a-Scope network, which lets would-be star gazers rent time on various “robotic telescopes” around the world. As a member, you can control these telescopes from the comfort of your home via the Internet and download images of the planets, stars, and galaxies you observe.

4. Collecting Data, Revising Hypothesis From Don
Data collected by citizen science groups can often provide the information scientists need to answer a question. However, just as often, the data provides the scientist with information the scientist wasn’t expecting, causing a rethinking of their hypothesis. This happened recently with the data collected by volunteers of the Firefly Watch Citizen Science Project.

3. Calling Worm Rangers! From GLWW

The Great Lakes Worm Watch’s 3rd Annual “Big Worm Week” was a free opportunity for all ages, youth to adult, to raise awareness and understanding of exotic earthworms. Participants learned how to conduct earthworm surveys and contribute to this growing citizen science effort. This was an important event because there is very little data collected on invasive earthworm species in the Great Lakes region.

2.The New Rugged Individualism From reinventor32

What is “open education”? Bennett describes it as the conscious and willful act of spreading knowledge and experience to others, helping others (especially younger people) to gain an appreciation and love for learning, and a desire to partner with and help educators especially in subjects relating to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Read more to find out what happens when we connect enthusiasm to the scientific process.

1. National Geographic Kids – November 2010 From Charlotte
Our most popular member blog post of 2010 belongs to Charlotte, who blogged about her favorite articles from the November edition of National Geographic Kids. Thanks Charlotte, and we look forward to more blog posts from you in the future!