This post is part of my coverage of the Science Online 2010 conference.

Bioblitzes are 24-hour volunteer efforts to count and catalogue every life form appearing in a location from sunrise of day one to sunrise of day two. Every year the Audubon Society holds a Christmas Bird Count every year, where participants count the different species of birds that appear in their backyards. iNaturalist brings together a community of people to catalogue the species they see with GPS coordinates and pictures verifying them.

These are all examples of citizen science, described as “any study or project that involves the public and collaboration with a University or non-profit organization.” Sandra Porter, Tara Richerson, and Antony Williams hosted this session to discuss methods of bringing scientists and volunteers together.

Scientists on these projects need to be concerned with data quality, consistent collection, and record keeping, while teachers looking for projects for their students voiced their need to meet educational standards, have the project complete before students graduate, and have the students get additional benefits, such as something to put on a CV or have their name put on some of the data. Projects need to be appropriate to student grade levels, like a project for Trinity High School, where students peformed DNA barcoding on street vendor food among other things.

A Few Citizen Science Resources:

folding@home

What’s Invasive!

On the ride back to EC, Vicky and I heard about a Google Android app What’s Invasive, which allows users to upload photos of invasive species they find with coordinates to help inform National Park Service rangers of where to focus their efforts.

Additional:

See the wiki for this session, which has links to additional resources.

You can see a PDF of my raw notes from this session here.