Citizen Science: Try this at home, kids
Reading about science on the internet is cool, sure, but sometimes you just want to get out there and contribute. Hundreds of citizen science projects are available across the world, both online and hands-on, and anyone who has an interest in science can have a go. Iâve compiled an incomplete list below, so check them out and get sciencing!
EterRNA: A puzzle game where players design models of DNA using four nucleotide bases, participating in the creation of a library of synthetic RNA designs
Phylo: A game that explores how DNA and RNA sequences are arranged
Foldit: A puzzle game where players fold proteins with the eventual aim of having players map the structures of unknown proteins and design new ones
Mapper: NASA gets players to analyse and tag photos from the bottoms of Pavilion Lake and Kelly Lake in British Columbia, studying microbialites and lake features in hopes of helping find life on other planets
AgeGuess: Guess peopleâs age in a simple game, which investigates the differences between perceived age and chronological age as a potential aging biomarker.
Natural Products Discovery Group: Theyâll send you a soil collection kit to return, and they will then screen the fungi in the sample for bioactivity against a variety of diseases to help in drug development.
FrogWatch USA: Contribute to frog conservation all throughout the US
Global Bio Blitz, Amphibian and Reptile: A project that seeks to document species of amphibians and reptiles throughout the world
Center for Snake Conservation Snake Count: Tracks snake distribution across North America
Hawaii Sea Turtle Monitoring: Help NOAA monitor green and hawksbill turtles and invasive algae in Hawaii
Annual Midwest Crane Count: Join a force of thousands counting cranes across Winconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan and Minnesota
North American Amphibian Monitoring Program: Assesses frog and toad populations
eBird: A massive online database of bird observations that you can add to
Audubon Society Christmas Bird Count: The worldâs oldest citizen science project takes place in December and January, mainly in the US and Canada but also in some places in the Western Hemisphere
Celebrate Urban Birds: Make ten-minute observations of birds in your neighbourhood to help investigate how birds inhabit urban areas
Great Backyard Bird Count: Exactly what it sounds like!
JellyWatch: Report your sightings of jellyfish, red tide, squid and other unusual marine animals throughout the world
Project Squirrel: A US and Canada census of gray and fox squirrelsâupload pictures and observations of conditions
Whale Song Project: A Worldwide project where you can help analyse the recorded calls of killer whales and pilot whales
TurtleSAT: Help map freshwater turtle deaths throughout Australia
MantaMatcher: Upload observations of manta rays and work to identify them, building the first global online database for manta rays
iSeahorse: Upload your photos and observations of seahorses, help identify seahorse species, and advocate for their protection.
School of Ants: The study of ants living in urban areas all around the US (and thereâs also an Australian version and an Italian version)
The Great Sunflower Project: Focused on bee conservation, participants grow Lemon Queen sunflowers and make regular observations to count bees that visit them during the blooming season
Native Buzz: Study the nesting preferences and distribution of solitary bees and wasps throughout the world
Dragonfly Pond Watch: Study the migrations of sixteen dragonfly species in North America
The Dragonfly Swarm Project: Contribute to the research of dragonfly swarms throughout the world
Butterflies and Moths of North America: This aims to collect data about butterflies and moths or their eggs, caterpillars, or cocoons or chrysalides.
The Lost Ladybug Project: Find and photograph ladybugs in your neighbourhood to help collect information about various ladybug species, especially the rapid shift in populations
All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory: Document and identify plants and animals in your area across the US
iNaturalist: On this site you can share photos and details of plants and animals, and maintain lists of your discoveries worldwide
National Geographic BioBlitz: A twenty-four hour inventory of every living species in a specific areaâcheck for an area near you.
The GLOBE Program: This project involves students of all ages and in all countries, teaching them how to collect scientific data and make scientific discoveries
Project NOAH: Document your observations about wildlife and plants around the world, and even get other people in the community to identify them
Wildlife Health Monitoring Network: Participants can help compile data about wildlife disease patterns around the world and how they might affect humans and domestic animals
Mushroom Observer: Less than 5% of the worldâs fungi species are known to science, so help out by uploading images and observations of mushrooms and other fungi near you
Project BudBurst: Help collect data on plant phenology (when difference plants grow leaves and produce fruit) to show how different species in the US respond to changes in climate.
Explore the Sea Floor: Tag seafloor photosÂ
Atlas of Living Australia: Upload your observations to contribute to a database of biodiversity knowledge.
Track a Tree: Help record the progress of spring in woodlands across the UK.Â
Project Splatter:Â Quantify and map wildlife roadkill across the UK
NatureWatchNZ: Upload your observations of wildlife across New Zealand
Citiclops: Upload photos of water colour throughout Europe, adding to climate and water colour data.
Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network: Measure rainâor lack thereofâin your area of the US to help track precipitation, predict floors, and plan for water supply and demand
Journey North: Help make observations of migrating animals in North America
IceWatch: A Canadian citizen science program, you can help by monitoring the freezing and thawing dates of freshwater lakes and rivers, thus building up data about how these cycles changeÂ
Weather Detective:Â Uncover important weather records hidden in the logbooks of ships that sailed the seas around Australia in the 1890s and 1900s.
American Meteor Society Visual Observing Program: Meteor science is naked-eye amateurs can provide valuable data about meteors, meteor showers, fireballs and other phenomena
Galaxy Zoo: Examine real images of galaxies, classify them, and help determine how they form
Lowell Amateur Research Institute: There are a number of projects you can help out with, depending on what youâre interested in, your location, your time, and what software or equipment you have access toâmost projects are aimed at serious amateur astronomers.
Moon Mappers: Analyse photos of the moon taken by the Linar Reconnaissance Orbiter
GLOBE at Night: By comparing the sky above you to charts provided by the project, you can help measure the impact of light pollution on the visibility of stars
Stardust@home: This is an online search for interstellar dust, using images of samples captured from the comet Wild 2 in 2004
Target Asteroids: Help compile information about Near Earth Asteroids (must have access to a telescope)
Planet Mercury: Mappers: Identify craters to assist in creating a global crater database
Asteroid Mappers: Map the surface of Vesta
Valley of the Khans Project: An online hunt for Genghis Khanâs tomb, examining high-resolution satellite images
Quantum Moves: Help build a quantum computer
Higgs Hunters:Â Help search for unknown exotic particles in the LHC data!
Zooniverse: This is a collection of projects, mostly in astronomy (like looking at infrared images to find star-forming regions, studying wind patterns on Mars, and classifying images of the Moonâs surface) but some in climate, nature and archaeology too (like transcribing papyri and classifying bat calls). Click through to read about them.
The list above was compiled with a focus on widespread projects that are available across continents and throughout the world, but there are so many more out there. Lots of them are local, so get researching and find out what else is in your area!
Note: Iâll be adding to the list as I find out about other projects, so if you know of one Iâve missed, please shoot me a message.