Join Us in April for Citizen Science Month

By Rosemary Jann

In April, take the opportunity to join people worldwide to assist scientific research and be counted as part of SciStarter.org’s “One Million Acts of Science” campaign. SciStarter is a global organization committed to encouraging people to learn about, participate in, and support scientific research on real-world problems. Citizen science, also known as community or participatory science, offers volunteers opportunities to observe, collect, analyze, and share data about the natural world, making this information available for research projects conducted by professional scientists and resource managers. Volunteers can vastly multiply the amount of data that scientists have to work with and help evaluate those data to identify the most useful information. Citizen scientists can help solve global problems while becoming more effective and informed advocates for science.

Anyone can serve as a citizen scientist if they collect and submit data according to the protocols set up by scientific research organizations. For instance, acts of citizen science could include submitting birding lists to Ebird or contributing and analyzing observations for iNaturalist or the National Phenology Network. Volunteers could also track light pollution for Globe at Night and analyze cloud formations for Globe Observer. Citizen scientists might also test water quality, measure local weather conditions, monitor nest boxes, analyze game camera footage, inventory wildlife, or collect data for bioblitzes. There are hundreds of ways to participate.

To take part in Citizen Science Month, view this short video about how to create a SciStarter account and find relevant projects. Then create your own SciStarter account at https://scistarter.org/. During April, log your acts of science on the website to be counted. By becoming a citizen scientist, you can expand your appreciation of the natural world and act locally to advance scientific solutions to problems of global importance.

And don’t forget that you can also participate in the foremost citizen science event for April, The City Nature Challenge, a global bioblitz that documents the extent of urban biodiversity in metropolitan areas around the world. During the observation period, April 25-28, 2025, volunteer observers will use the iNaturalist app to document wild plants and animals. From April 29-May 4, volunteers will contribute identifications of what was found. For more information on the CNC in the Washington metropolitan area, see https://citynaturechallengedc.org/.