Feeling restless? Join research to identify wildlife and more
January 15, 2021
Looking for a gentle activity this winter that feels better than endlessly scrolling, without the pressure of having to form functional sentences with other people over video chat?
We hear that! It's why we've rounded up the following impactful citizen science projects you can contribute to:
- in your pajamas
- by yourself or with family members or roommates
- in a handful of free minutes
- that doesn’t require any specialized expertise
Penguin Watch
Count penguins in remote regions to help researchers understand their lives and environment.
Dolphin Chat
Learn about the acoustic sounds dolphins make, and then use that information to identify and classify recordings to let researchers know if dolphins are visiting certain areas.
Stall Catchers
Help contribute to Alzheimer’s disease research with Stall Catchers, which uses an online game to collect data about blood vessels in mice. Suitable for younger players. Read more about it in Wired Magazine.
Anti-Slavery Manuscripts
Help transcribe messages from a collection of handwritten documents between anti-slavery activists in the 19th century into texts that are more easily read and researched by teachers, students, and historians.
Sedimental Values
Help transcribe and organize field note measurements from more than 40 years of excavations at Pit 91, one of the richest fossil sites from the last Ice Age at La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles.
Michigan ZoomIN
The last season of Michigan ZoomIN involved identifying critters caught on trail cameras throughout Michigan to help understand animal populations, migrations, and other ecological dynamics.
That work has since been wrapped up, and a new one is about to launch that includes images of Detroit before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Stay tuned.
By the People campaigns
Help transcribe, review, and tag digitized pages from the Library of Congress to improve access to their collections. Campaigns include notes from folklorist Alan Lomax and diaries and journals from American Red Cross founder Clara Barton.
For official Douglass Day celebrations from February 12–14, the platform will host a mass transcribing event for the papers of civil rights activist Mary Church Terrell.
For more citizen science projects, check out Zooniverse and SciStarter, or see the Design Lab's research guide.
by Emily Buckler
