Citizen Science is scientific work undertaken by members of the general public, often in collaboration with or under the direction of professional scientists and scientific institutions. Citizen science allows everyone to contribute to science no matter where they are. Whether by asking questions, reporting observations, conducting experiments, collecting data, or developing low-cost technologies and open-source code, members of the public can use their talents to help advance scientific knowledge and contribute to a greater good.
With citizen science and crowdsourcing, we can help:
- Accelerate scientific research through group discovery.
- Provide information at resolutions that would otherwise be difficult to obtain given time and cost constraints.
- Improve the quality and relevance of observations due to the unique perspectives and local knowledge volunteers bring to projects.
- Increase science skills. Students can gain skills to excel in science, technology, engineering, and math. Gain hands-on experience doing real science beyond a classroom setting.
- Improve government services while lowering costs.
- Connect with public service and work for a greater good.
5 Reasons to become a Citizen Scientist!
- There's a project for every passion: music, games, history, space exploration, hiking, biology, and more!
- Learn new stuff!
- Help researchers learn new stuff!
- Make an immediate impact on how we understand our universe
- It's fun!
(NOAA Beach Watch volunteer)