Science Communication, Group P

Activity 9

What is Citizen Science?

Photos: Helga Nordhoff

What to do:

1. Have a look at the international citizen science projects below that allow international participation. Select the ones you would like to partake in. Go ahead and be a citizen scientist!
   1. Sea Floor Explorer
      Identify species and ground cover in images of the seafloor, and help create a library of seafloor life in the habitats along the northeast continental shelf. http://www.seafloorexplorer.org/
       
      
   2. Cyclone Centre
      CycloneCenter.org is a web-based interface that enables the public to help analyze the intensities of past tropical cyclones around the globe.
      http://www.cyclonecenter.org/#/about
       
   3. Panamath
      Number sense" describes human and animals' inborn ability to intuitively size up the number of objects in their everyday environments. Citizen scientists can take the same test used in this experiment. During the test, participants see a random number of circles on screen for 600 milliseconds (0.6 seconds). Their job is to decide whether there were more yellow circles or more blue circles
      http://panamath.org/
       
2. The following projects will demand a little bit more of your time and effort. Select one (or more) that you would like to be involved in during the upcoming months. If you want to work with a friend or in a group you are welcome to. Read more about the topic if necessary to allow you to contribute and prepare your contribution.
   1. Nature lover?
      Upload any interesting sightings and get the experts to assist in validating your identification. You will have to register to be part of the project
      http://www.ispot.org.za/
       
   2. Animal lover?
      The Animal Demography Unit (ADU) at the University of Cape Town has a menagerie of projects you can choose from. Wether you prefer mammals or frogs or birds or lepidoptera, there is a project for you that will get you outdoors ot collect valuable data for science and conservation. It's easy to become involved and it's a lot of fun.
      http://www.adu.org.za/citizen_science.php
       
   3. Bird lover?
      Compile a list of birds in your yard or at school.
      http://mybirdpatch.adu.org.za/
       
   4. Are you a Landscape person?
      Take part in the 'Repeat photograph project of South African landscapes'.
      "Contribute to an understanding of how South Africa's environment has been changing and is continuing to change. This is done by comparing two photographs of the same view, taken at different times, and then recording the major changes that have taken place between the photos."
      http://rephotosa.adu.org.za/
       
   5. Find your own project
      

References & Resources