Citizen Science in the News

In late July, we reminded you to “look up” in early August to enjoy the annual Perseid meteor shower (read). Hopefully, many of you had an enjoyable and awe-inspiring experience (this author went out and saw one flash in the corner of his eye, but had to get back into bed for an upcoming long day). This year, a few amateur astronomers took their ‘looking up” a step further beyond Earth’s upper atmosphere, and focused their telescopes onto the surface of the Moon. Amazing bright flashes of meteor explosions on the surface of the Moon were seen using typical backyard telescopes!

This specific form of moon-gazing is actually quite important right now, as NASA has a program established to monitor meteor activity on the surface of the Moon. This effort is to better understand the safety requirements for the next generation of astronauts who will hopefully set up camp for a while.

The Lunar Impact Monitoring program at the Marshall Space Flight Center trains its telescopes toward the Moon as frequently as possible, but Moon phases and atmospheric conditions will often limit their coverage. In fact, they were unable to monitor the Moon during the Perseids. So, developing a world-wide team of amateur astronomers will greatly enhance the programs ability to accurately predict and monitor meteor activity, which will lead to better considerations for activity recommendations for lunar landings and extended camps.

DPRI already features this important citizen science project in our collection of Amateur Science Opportunities, and we will plan to write a more thorough review of the program in the near future.
“Amateur Astronomers See Perseids Hit the Moon” :: Science@NASA News :: September 2, 2008 :: [ READ ]

Citizen scientists high up in the Rocky Mountains today were “blitz-ing” for water samples at hundreds of locations through the Rocky Mountain National Park. Researchers are massing together to monitor water conditions all over the park — at approximately the same instant in time.

This research, which can only be accomplished with the outstanding efforts of many citizen science volunteers, will help guide professionals on understanding the greater habitat, and how and where external nutrients like fertilizers and other pollutants are affecting the environment.
“‘Blitz’ to test water at hundreds of locations in Rocky Mountain National Park” :: Rocky Mountain News :: August 11, 2008 :: [ READ ]

This is an update to a previously-published journal entry here in DPRI AmSci Journal on the exciting discovery of a new galactic “something-er-other” seen for the very first time by none other than a school teacher from the Netherlands.

Hanny van Arkel has been getting quite a bit of attention lately (just check out her Google search!) with her interesting observation while reviewing and classifying images of galaxies on Galaxy Zoo. The Hubble Space Telescope is also scheduled to focus in on the odd object next year.

Read the following feature from CNN, which does a nice job presenting the growing contributions of citizen scientists.

Watch Out World, now, the serious amateur researcher is making some waves!

“Armchair astronomer discovers unique ‘cosmic ghost'” :: CNN.com :: August 7, 2008 :: [ READ ]

“Teacher discovers ‘cosmic ghost'” :: University of Oxford Press Release :: August 6, 2008 :: [ READ ]

“Dutch Teacher Stumbles Upon A Space ‘Ghost'” :: NPR News Weekend Edition :: August 9, 2008 :: [ READ ]

The citizen science volunteers of the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy of Purcellville, VA recently completed their annual butterfly count. Covering 7 1/2 miles, the program records the number of butterflies found as well as the variety of species.

A few of the more rare species found this year include the Giant Swallowtail, the American Snout, and the Juniper hairstreak. The full results will be submitted to the North American Butterfly Association, which then merges it with other groups’ results from across North America to produce broader butterfly species habitat and population trend maps.

Check out the NABA website for a listing of upcoming butterfly counts as well as “Butterflies I’ve Seen,” which is a great online database for submitting your own butterfly observations.

In an upcoming conference of the 93rd annual Ecological Society of America meeting, the USGS will be reporting on recent successes of research programs directly involving citizen scientists.

From bees, dust, and a 40-year historical overview of birding amateur science, the conference will be filled with fine examples of the productivity and effectiveness of citizen science efforts.

So, we have another positive report to the professional scientific community of how useful citizen science can be, and how we all can benefit from the personal enjoyment of amateur science while helping develop new knowledge for the greater scientific community.
“USGS Science at Ecological Society of America” :: USGS Release :: July 23, 2008 :: [ READ PRESS RELEASE ]

An upcoming BioBlitz scheduled on Long Island in the Tanglewood Preserve has the local academia and the local amateur scientists excited… and the event might also have piqued some interest from producers at The Discovery Channel.

The BioBlitz is an interesting movement where community members designate a 24-hour period to canvass their local region and identify and catalog all of the organisms that can be observed. This concept is a perfect idea and opportunity to unite citizen scientists and local professional scientists to help keep track of regional biodiversity, species evolution, and environmental impacts on the local biosphere.

The following report suggests an unofficial interest from The Discovery Channel to document one such event, which would be a wonderful publicity boon to supporting the role of the citizen scientist and will certainly inspire many more to look into opportunities in their local areas.

“Bio Blitz catches Discovery’s attention” :: Herald Community Newspapers Online :: July 31, 2008 :: [ READ ]

Learn more about the BioBlitz movement and to find events in your area [ BioBlitz on Wikipedia ].