Citizen Science

science · community · discovery · participation

Regular people help. Citizen science lets everyday people, not just people with fancy degrees, participate in real scientific research. You could help count birds, monitor water quality, or track stars without working at a university.

Many different fields. Scientists use citizen science in lots of areas like ecology, biology, astronomy, conservation, health research, and even communications. There's almost no limit to what kinds of questions regular people can help answer.

Data collectors everywhere. When thousands of citizen scientists collect information from their neighborhoods, backyards, and local parks, they create huge amounts of useful data that helps scientists spot patterns they might otherwise miss.

Learning while helping. By participating in citizen science projects, you get to do real science, ask real questions, and see how researchers actually work, all while contributing to discoveries that matter.

Different meanings, same goal. Different organizations define citizen science in slightly different ways, but they all agree it's about bringing together professional scientists and the public to solve problems together.