Citizen Science section of Scientific American

Scientific American has been bringing science to people for over 160 years. Now the magazine is bringing people to science through a new online listing of citizen science opportunities.

Early this month, Scientific American Online launched a Citizen Science section of the web site. This is part of a larger Education effort, which includes a number of science activities called Bring Science Home.

So far, a small but diverse collection of citizen science projects are profiled and more are appearing each week. There are projects that get volunteers outside exploring nature like eBird, and Nature’s Notebook. There are also projects that are looking for volunteers to help out from their computers like Foldit and Old Weather.

Each citizen science project listed on Scientific American includes a short description of the science and the way people can get involved. You will find names of scientists, universities, and organizations that are involved. You will also find helpful logistical information for figuring out which type of citizen science is for you such as the dates, costs (if any), grade level (if any), and time commitment.

The blog post “Welcome to Scientific American's Citizen Science initiative!” by Associate Editor Larry Greenemeier provides more detail about these new resources. According to Greenemeier, “the plan is to add listings so that our readers can learn about a variety of projects and hopefully find one that strikes their fancy.”