Community Science; Participatory Science : Opportunities, People and Projects

What's blooming, flying, hopping, or maybe just growing around you? Make observations of wild living things with the iNaturalist app.

Trail camera monitoring; Wisconsin DNR.

Squirrels vary in color patterns across landscapes and neighborhoods, but why? Contribute observational data using iNaturalist and Zooniverse.

Project studying red foxes and coyotes in Madison, WI. Report a canid sighting. Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, UW-Madison

Wisconsin Aquatic and Terrestrial Resources, Inventory; Wisconsin DNR

Wisconsin Aquatic and Terrestrial Resources Inventory; Wisconsin DNR

Wisconsin Aquatic and Terrestrial Resources Survey; Wisconsin DNR

Wisconsin Aquatic and Terrestrial Resources Survey; Wisconsin DNR

Partnership of The Xerces Society, the University of Ottawa, Wildlife Preservation Canada, BeeSpotter, The Natural History Museum, London, and the Montreal Insectarium.

Document Karner Blue Butterfly observations throughout the state in order to track the population status, distribution, and trends.

Education, conservation and research about Monarch butterflies and necessary habitat.

Free app to enable users to contibute information about exposure to ticks.

Smartphone app to collect data on wild bee abundance and diversity on Wisconsin’s fruit and vegetable farms, as well as non-crop habitats.

Project monitoring native bumble bees.

Wisconsin Aquatic and Terrestrial Resources Inventory; Wisconsin DNR

International Crane Foundation

National Audubon Society. Nation's longest-running CS bird project!

Cornell Lab of Ornithology; National Audubon Society. Follow links to regional partners.

Cornell Lab of Ornithology; National Audubon Society

Learn about its Annual Lakes Monitoring Program and how to become a "Loon Ranger".

Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Birds Canada

Using eBird survey platform, contribute to efforts to document the annual movement of Snowy owls.

Wisconsin Bird Conservation Initiative

Grassroots volunteer network of backyard weather observers of all ages and backgrounds working together to measure and map precipitation (rain, hail and snow) in their local communities.

Track changes in the timing of plant and animal seasonal activity with the Nature's Notebook program.

National Weather Service, NOAA

Community science program that empowers people to take action on invasive species through invasive species monitoring, management, and outreach.

Collection of researchers, educators, gardeners, and community scientists working together to illustrate the human impacts on the natural world. A project portal of the Chicago Botanic Garden.

Wisconsin Aquatic and Terrestrial Resources Survey; Wisconsin DNR

Join NASA researchers and discover the secrets of the universe, search for life elsewhere, and protect and improve life on Earth and in space.

Join hundreds of volunteers around Wisconsin who monitor the health of their local streams.

Official government website designed to accelerate the use of crowdsourcing and citizen science across the US government.

iNaturalist is an online social network of people sharing biodiversity information to help each other learn about nature.

Document migrations and seasons.

SciStarter connects people with opportunities to engage in real-world research questions in collaboration with researchers, communities, organizations, and companies.

Network of well-informed volunteers and instructors dedicated to conservation service, leadership, and lifelong learning. Visit site for training opportunities.

Find and register opportunities.

Member-driven organization that connects people from a wide range of experiences around one shared purpose: advancing knowledge through research and monitoring done by, for, and with members of the public.

Join the network; become a community hub for citizen science! Visit the site for support and training for creating and loaning project kits.

Webliography of resources selected and organized by Diane (DeDe) Dawson, Natural Sciences Liaison Librarian, University of Saskatchewan.
Published by ISTL, 2012.

Jeffrey M. Perkel, Nature 568, 131-132 (2019)

Create projects, build datasheets, collect data, and view results in real-time.

Toolkit aims to help project leaders understand their role as data handlers in identifying, satisfying, and/or balancing ethical obligations of a project to participants, partners, science, and society.

DataONE Public Participation in Scientific Research Working Group, February 2013

Compendium of guidance documents, manuals, and workbooks produced for the participatory sciences.

Considerations and suggestions for making an informed decision about the appropriate platform for a project (with table of features and list of platforms).

This interdisciplinary organization is committed to providing researchers with tools and resources to support their efforts to store, analyze, and share data.