What is Citizen Science?
Citizen science is when the public collaborates with scientists to conduct scientific research. It can involve collecting data, analyzing results, and developing new technologies.
If you want to get involved in making a difference in your community by volunteering your time, learning about the natural world, or supporting a good cause, here are some ways you can.
Searchable Citizen Science Database
CitizenScience.gov is an official government website designed to accelerate the use of crowdsourcing and citizen science across the U.S. government.
Individual Citizen Science Projects
With Scistarter, find volunteer opportunities that match topics you're curious or concerned about. There's something for everyone!
Document Local Plants and Animals
Every iNaturalist observation can contribute to biodiversity science, from the rarest butterfly to the most common backyard weed. We share your findings with scientific data repositories like the Global Biodiversity Information Facility to help scientists find and use your data. All you have to do is observe.
Document Birds You See
Birders enter when, where, and how they went birding, and then fill out a checklist of all the birds seen and heard during the outing. eBird’s free mobile app allows offline data collection anywhere in the world, and the website provides many ways to explore and summarize your data and other observations from the global eBird community.
Track a Subject Throughout the Seasons
USA National Phenology Network is a national-scale monitoring and research initiative focused on collecting, organizing and delivering phenological data, information, and forecasts to support natural resource management and decision-making, to advance the scientific field of phenology, and to promote understanding of phenology by a wide range of audiences.
Find and Observe Plants in your Area With an App
When it comes to finding ways to mitigate climate change, we like to start in our own backyard: observing plants and pollinators is critical to understanding how our environment is responding to the changes in our climate. These observations come from community scientists just like you. With Budburst, you can experience the magic of nature, while contributing to the fight to save it.
Measure Snow to Track Climate Change
Community Snow Observations aims to improve our understanding of snow depth variability in mountainous regions. We need community-based observers, including backcountry professionals and recreationists, to help gather snow observations.
Track Night Sky Pollution
The Globe at Night program is an international citizen-science campaign to raise public awareness of the impact of light pollution by inviting citizen-scientists to measure their night sky brightness and submit their observations from a computer or smart phone.
Observe Urban Birds over 3 Days
Celebrate Urban Birds strives to co-create bilingual inclusive, equity-based community science projects that serve communities that have been historically underrepresented or excluded from birding, conservation, and citizen science.
Observe Invertebrates for Science
The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation is an international nonprofit organization that protects the natural world through the conservation of invertebrates and their habitats. Our key program areas are: pollinator conservation, endangered species conservation, and reducing pesticide use and impacts.
Monitor Bird Nests
NestWatch is a monitoring program designed to track status and trends in the reproductive biology of birds, including when nesting occurs, number of eggs laid, how many eggs hatch, and how many hatchlings survive. Our database is intended to be used to study the current condition of breeding bird populations and how they may be changing over time as a result of climate change, habitat degradation and loss, expansion of urban areas, and the introduction of non-native plants and animals.
Counting Butterflies
The North American Butterfly Association has run the Butterfly Count Program in the United States, Canada, and Mexico since 1993. The annually published reports provide a tremendous amount of information about the geographical distribution and relative population sizes of the species counted. Comparisons of the results across years can be used to monitor changes in butterfly populations and study the effects of weather and habitat change on North American butterflies.