April is Citizen Science Month!
Are you tired of learning in the classroom? Do you want to get outside and get some hands on experience with science? Do you want to learn what it feels like to be a real scientist? Good news! You can. Dive into the citizen scientist opportunities below to hone in your Bug Club skills.
April is citizen science month, so we shouldn’t have a problem finding new opportunities. Citizen Science is open to ALL people and involves curious and concerned people whose individual acts contribute to collective impact that’s accelerating scientific research, discoveries, and local actions that improve the world. From sharing photos of nature to help communities, planners, and scientists document biodiversity, to browsing images on your computer to help speed up research about Alzheimer's disease, to using your phone to help track microplastic and air quality, each of these Acts of Science is important.
Nobody knows everything, but everybody knows something, and together, we can help solve local, regional, national, and global challenges. When we engage in citizen science, we make and share observations, analyze data, begin to formulate questions, experiment, and ultimately construct a deeper understanding about the world, all while advancing important areas of scientific research!
In fact through citizen science new species have been discovered! Through iNaturalist, dozens of new species have been discovered by people just like YOU.
April 8: Observe changes in the soundscape of insects around you or their behaviors during the eclipse.
April 19: Insect DNA collection. In this event, participants will familiarize themselves with the biodiversity of Jones Beach, with a focus on local ant, beetle, and mosquito groups. Attendees will be introduced to how DNA barcoding can be used to identify species, and will obtain, document, and preserve specimens for DNA isolation at future events. Collection and identification of these insects helps improve their range maps and can show how species are responding to environmental pressures such as global climate change.
April 26-30: Join the City Nature Challenge for some friendly competition to document the bugs in your city. Run by the Community Science teams at the California Academy of Sciences and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHM), the CNC is an annual four-day global bioblitz at the end of April.
June 24-30: Insect Week. The Royal Entomological Society organizes the week, supported by a large number of partner organizations with interests in the science, natural history and conservation of insects. Celebrate Insect Week and STEM with this free 30-minute quiz! You and your class (7-11 year olds).
July 20-28: National Moth Week. Moth Week offers everyone, everywhere the opportunity to become a Citizen Scientist by submitting photos of moths to any of our participating partners for identification and data submission.
Join these campaigns anytime:
Inaturalist: Take photos and see who can identify biodiversity in your community.
Ant Picnic: Prepare 6 food types for ants to learn more about what they prefer to snack on, tell us a little about the environment where you set up your ant picnic, count the ants that came to each food type, take a picture of your experiment, collect the ants to confirm your count and report the results.
Bugs Below Zero: Have you noticed small mosquito-like flies on snowbanks surrounding trout streams in winter? Believe it or not, these flies, known as “non-biting midges,” are vital to the winter diet of trout in our Minnesota streams, and in turn, are important to Minnesota outdoor recreation, our community, and the local economy. The University of Minnesota Bugs Below Zero Team has been discovering the life-cycle dynamics of non-biting midges and their importance to trout for more than a decade. Now, the research group is looking for volunteers to help with monitoring efforts and to expand the scope of this research program.
Minnesota Bee Atlas: The Minnesota Bee Atlas is a research project that relies on volunteers to learn more about the distribution and diversity of native bees in Minnesota.
Notes from Nature: Natural history museums across the world share a common goal – to conserve and make available knowledge about natural and cultural heritage. The Notes from Nature project gives you the opportunity to make a scientifically important contribution towards that goal. Every transcription that is completed brings us closer to filling gaps in our knowledge of global biodiversity and natural heritage.
The Great Sunflower Project: The Great Sunflower Project is the largest citizen science project focused on pollinators, with over 100,000 participants and counting. Volunteers are asked to find any plant (like a sunflower), observe it for five or more minutes, record all pollinators (like bees or butterflies) that visit, and report the data online. This project helps identify where pollinators are declining and determine how we can help improve their habitats.
