You love birds. You love wildlife. You love all of nature and you want to help protect the things that you love! We get it, but how can you do that if you don’t have that fancy-dancey science degree?
Never fear! Science is being brought closer than ever to people from all different disciplines and backgrounds through “Citizen Science!”
Citizen Science connects people to all forms of science from ecology to neuroscience, from wildlife conservation to molecular biology and beyond without that degree or white lab coat! Just get outside and get online to participate!
Citizen Science not only helps out scientists by providing them with valuable data that they can’t obtain whether due to financial or personnel restrictions for large-scale projects, but it also will help YOU – the participant!
First of all, participating in Citizen Science increases your sense of community. Once you make observations and get involved in a project, you will start to care about that “thing” more than you did! Are you counting monarchs for the North American Butterfly Association? Once you participate in that count, you may start to notice the various butterflies in your neighborhood more than you had previously and feel empowered to share your new passion with others! Citizen Science is a great way to meet people that have similar interests as you.
Secondly, it can increase your sense of self-importance, and who doesn’t need an extra dose of confidence! Some citizen science projects happen via computer game and some happen while making observations outside in nature. Did you know that the fun that you’re having predicting the next the next virus-caused zombie apocalypse computer game or hiking through peaceful forests listening to the birds singing is actually advancing science? Your efforts are helping to further scientific discovery, and that’s a big deal!
Participating in citizen science is for everyone, which is a definite plus. Remember, you don’t need a background in science in order to participate and make a difference! Everyone, from the youngest to the oldest can still feel as if they are contributing to the scientific community.
Are you excited to get started on your journey of being a Citizen Scientist? Join Bucks County Audubon Society for our next program – the Great Backyard Bird Count on February 19th from 2-4pm! We will count and observe birds and record that data for the scientists at the National Audubon Society to use! The data that we record will help them monitor population ranges and health of the birds that we love so much. Let us know you’re coming by clicking here! Other projects that we encourage you to participate in are our Butterfly Count and PA Amphibian and Reptile Survey (PARS) in the summer and Christmas Bird Count in the early winter. Don’t miss out on any of these great opportunities to further your knowledge of nature and help further scientific research!
Interested in learning more about Citizen Science projects? Check out these great links below!
Microbiology & Neurology Related Citizen Science
Importance of Citizen Science to Ecology & Wildlife Conservation
List of National Geographic’s Citizen Science projects
Citizen Science Computer Games
Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s EBird
Bucks Audubon Blog 