Was that the lost satellite? In 2018, a citizen scientist looked up at the sky and contacted NASA to say he believed he had found the missing IMAGE satellite, which they had lost contact with in December of 2005. According to science.nasa.gov, NASA confirmed the ID and verified it was in fact the missing satellite. While not all citizen scientists will achieve instant fame, they play an important role in research. All over the world, people go out and record sightings and their data is uploaded which helps scientists track migrations, rare species, and find invasive species.   This can then be used for directing public policy and protecting important habitat.   

Dr. Tina B. Phillips, Assistant Director for the Center for Engagement in Science and Nature at Cornell University, said that citizen science advances scientific knowledge on “large geographic scales” and can give scientist the “big picture” on species ranges and well as detecting invasives. She also said participants gain knowledge and acquire new skills. In addition, Phillips also noted citizen scientists can help their own communities by collecting air and water samples, which can then be used to make changes in regulations and living conditions.

Phillips also stated that scientists are limited by the regions they live in whereas citizen scientists can be the “eyes and ears” collecting far more data than scientists would be able to do on their own. Dena Podrebarac, the Milkweed Coordinator for Monarch Watch, concurred saying citizen scientists are able provide more research than a much smaller number of scientists would be able to do. She also noted that there is a move to change the name to “community science.” Podrebarac also stated that citizen or community science can further knowledge, raise awareness, and create education opportunities. Phillips noted some good projects included several of the ones done through Cornell University, such as E-bird. She also recommended Galaxy Zoo and Scistarter.org. In addition, the National Wildlife Federation and citizenscience.gov also have listings of several citizen science projects.

E-bird-This is run through Cornell University and people can share sightings, update lists of all birds they’ve observed, and archive photos and sounds. 

Monarch Watch-This is done through the University of Kansas.   People tag monarchs as well as record tag number, date, and location of other butterflies.  monarch@ku.edu.

Monarch Calendar-People record the number of monarchs they see each day during the migration periods. In the South this is done from Aug. 1 to Sept 25 and in the North it is done from July 15-Aug. 20.  

Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Program-People verify the occurrence and distribution of nonnative animal and plant species.   Observations can be made through an online reporting system.   http://nas.er.us.gs.gov.

Citizen scientists play an important role in their communities and in the world. There are far more citizens in many more places than there are scientists and that is what allows citizen scientists to collect much more data. In addition, it gives people the opportunity to get outdoors, learn about their ecological neighborhood, and cultivate the next generation of scientists.