Knowledge-Connecting Projects: Citizen Science, Transcription, Wikipedia

Jojo is prepping for an exciting night; it's time for the bat count! Bats have always been a welcome presence during the summers in the family barn. But over the years, the numbers have dwindled as many bats in the area caught white-nose syndrome. Jojo and her family count the bats and send the numbers to scientists who study bats, to see if the bat population can recover.

Whether or not you are the one to discover Sasquatch (also known as Bigfoot,) this book will help you become a better observer of nature, more knowledgeable data-gatherer, and skilled in basic tracking and wilderness navigation. Becoming a proficient citizen-scientist is a step toward bringing this creature into the spotlight of the scientific community.

Where once astronomers sat at the controls of giant telescopes in remote locations, now they have no need to budge from their desks, as data arrives in their inbox. And what they receive is overwhelming; projects now being built provide more data in a few nights than in the whole of humanity's history of observing the Universe. It's not just astronomy either--dealing with this deluge of data is a major challenge for scientists at CERN, and for biologists who use automated cameras to spy on animals in their natural habitats. But with so much scientific data, you need a lot of scientists--a crowd, in fact. Lintott found such a crowd in the Zooniverse, the web-based project that allows hundreds of thousands of enthusiastic volunteers to contribute to science.This approach builds on a long history of so-called 'citizen science', given new power by fast internet and distributed data.

Winner of the 2015 John Burroughs Medal & the 2015 WILLA Award for Best Creative Nonfiction. Diary of a Citizen Scientist is a timely exploration of the phenomenon of citizen science, told through the lens of nature writer Sharman Apt Russell's yearlong study of a little-known species, the Western red-bellied tiger beetle. In a voice both humorous and lyrical, Russell recounts her persistent and joyful tracking of an insect she calls "charismatic," "elegant," and "fierce." Diary of a Citizen Scientist offers its readers a glimpse into the transformative properties of citizen science--and documents the transformation of the field as a whole.

The Field Guide to Citizen Science, from the expert team at SciStarter, provides everything you need to get started. You'll learn what citizen science is, how to succeed and stay motivated when you're participating in a project, and how the data is used. The fifty included projects, ranging from climate change to Alzheimer's disease, endangered species to space exploration, mean sure-fire matches for your interests and time. Join the citizen science brigade now and start making a real difference!