YOU (yes, YOU) can be a Citizen Scientist
You don't have to be a scientist to participate in citizen science projects. There are a variety of opportunities to participate by collecting data for research projects. This research could not be done without the help of people all over the country. Many of these projects use data you can collect in your own backyard. Others require you to travel to your community's "backyards" to gather information. Participating in this research is a way to extend your stewardship of the natural world!
There are a number of Citizen Science projects available studying various wildlife.
Note to parents and teachers: This is a great way for children to learn about real science. It's much more meaningful and relevant than reading about science in a textbook. Many of these project have materials specifically developed for children's use. And besides learning about real science, these projects help develop a sense of stewardship of the natural world - a trait that will be even more important in the future in which our children will live.
Birds
Project FeederWatch - The FeederWatch season begins in November. If you're a new FeederWatcher, you can start preparing for the count season by reviewing "How to be a FeederWatcher" and "Bird Feeding Help & Tips" available on the website. You can join anytime (there's a $15 fee) and you'll receive newsletters and all the information you'll need to participate. Check out my PFW results.
eBird - Here's a chance to contribute to scientists knowledge about birds all year round (PFW runs from November through April). eBird is a joint project of the Audubon Society and Cornell's Lab of Ornithology. You can note the location and distance and/or start time/duration and take a snapshot of the birds you see during this outing. Or you can choose "Casual" observation to just record what you've seen. I started by using eBird as a convenient way of recording my weekly observations and then looking at the data in the many ways available. Now I'm starting also to take a more formal snapshot by noting time and duration for my yard observations following the protocol outlined. These observations will be more useful to scientists - and hopefully will aid in bird conservation.
Central New York Bird Count - Our Sunday newspaper carries a weekly bird column. The author of this column, Dr. Benjamin Burtt, has coordinated the results of people's observations of birds in their backyards for decades, even before Cornell University's Ornithology Lab started Project Feederwatch. The "rules" are similar to Project Feederwatch, except that people observe birds for an entire week - the first week of each month from October to April. Check out my CNY results.
Christmas Bird Count - In December 1900, readers of the publication Bird-Lore received a call to action by Frank Chapman. He implored them to begin a new holiday tradition of counting birds, rather than shooting them, as had been tradition. Who among those readers would have imagined that 100 years later that bold new idea would have grown into the largest bird survey ever conducted? The official CBC period always runs from December 14th through January 5th. Join the 50,000 other participants to help provide this valuable information for scientists to analyze.
The Great Backyard Bird Count - This data, collected for four days in February is combined with the Christmas Bird Count and Project Feederwatch data to give an immense picture of our winter birds. Each year that these data are collected makes them more important and meaningful. Results from the over 50,000 checklists submitted are available on the web. Check out my GBBC results.
The Birdhouse Network - This is a continent-wide monitoring program in which people place birdhouses, or nest boxes, in their yard or neighborhood and then monitor the birds that nest inside. Participants gather information such as the number of eggs and young in the nest, and then submit their data over the Internet to scientists at the Lab of Ornithology. There's a $15 fee to participate to cover the cost of materials. I started this project for the 2001 season, but there is a learning curve. I submitted some data, but hope to do more next year.
House Finch Disease Survey - Participants in this survey monitor their backyard bird feeders and report the presence or absence of House Finch eye disease, a form of conjunctivitis caused by a bacterium known as Mycoplasma gallisepticum. It's very simple to participate in this research, but the value is immense. Tracking this disease will help scientists better understand the disease process in general - not just in bird populations, but in other wildlife populations, and even in human populations. Your results are valuable whether or not you see the disease: knowing the disease has not spread to your area is just as valuable as knowing it is there.
After years of recording healthy birds, I found some birds with the disease in the 2004-2005 season. I have to admit I was beginning to wonder whether it was worth bothering with this project after so many years of never seeing the disease, but now that the disease is in my area, I'm glad I had been submitting the data. I suspect that these positive disease findings are much more valuable against the backdrop of all those negative results than it would have been otherwise. There is no fee to participate in this project.
The Golden Winged Warbler Atlas Project - This study engages volunteer birders and professional biologists to survey and conduct point counts at known and potential breeding sites of Golden-winged Warblers from May through July.
Project PigeonWatch is an international research project that involves people of all ages and locations in a real scientific endeavor. People participate by counting pigeons and recording courtship behaviors observed in their neighborhood pigeon flocks. Participants send their data to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, where scientists compile the information and use it to examine two questions of scientific interest:
1. Why do city pigeons exist in so many colors?
2. What color mate does a pigeon choose?
Insects
The Monarch Larval Monitoring Project was developed by researchers at the University of Minnesota to collect long-term data on larval monarch populations and milkweed habitat. The overarching goal of the project is to better understand how and why monarch populations vary in time and space, with a focus on monarch distribution and abundance during the breeding season in North America. Volunteers conduct weekly monarch and milkweed surveys, measuring per plant densities of monarch eggs and larvae and milkweed quality. The results will aid in conserving monarchs and their threatened migratory phenomenon, and advance understanding of butterfly ecology in general. You can do this project either in your own backyard or in another location that has milkweed.
North American Dragonfly Migration Project was created to answer questions such as:
How and why do solitary migrating dragonflies gather into socially cohesive mass swarms?
How do weather patterns and frontal systems affect the flyways taken by migrating dragonflies?
If you’re interested in these and other questions about dragonflies, this organization would like your help getting data from both inland and coastal locations.
Amphibians
Frogwatch USA relies on volunteers, like you, to collect information regarding frog and toad populations in neighborhoods across the nation. Anyone can participate; all you need is an interest in frogs and toads. Volunteers learn about the life cycles and calls of local frogs, monitor frogs and toads in local wetland areas and submit frog data via the Frogwatch USA website.
Adopt a Frog Pond Scientists are asking U.S. and Canadian residents to help in the scientific investigation of declining and deformed amphibian populations. The public is encouraged to report sightings of both normal and malformed amphibians encountered during hiking, fishing, and other outdoor activities.
