Introduction

  To many, a scientist is a person, often dressed in a white coat, that works in laboratories, universities or hi-tech factories and doesn't have much to do with the general public. Citizen Science For Everyone! seeks to inform the wider public about how they can add to scientific knowledge and why they might want to. This website will help demonstrate that science can be done by citizens, and their children, in many different situations. From examining a million galaxies to counting lions on the Serengeti, from monitoring woodburning stoves to describing the state of rivers, citizens can do science and be as good as professionals.


Citizen scientists diving and climbing.


grandmothers photographing cascades butterfly project

So what is citizen science?


  The first use of the term in the modern sense is in 1989 in an article about acid rain: 225 volunteers were given basic measuring devices and were asked to collect data (see next page). The idea of volunteering is central to the activities where people group together to perform tasks that paid scientists don't or can't do. The assembling of data through whatever means provides evidence that something exists or is happening. Citizen Science FOR Everyone! will give examples of successful projects and what can be achieved.


citizen astronomers citizen science communities

Guide to contents

  1. The Homepage introduces Citizen Science to people who are not familiar with it.
  2. The Interviews page has interviews with 3 friends who are citizen scientists.
  3. The Activities page gives examples of and gives links to project sites. There is a quiz.
  4. The Achievements page gives examples and links to academic studies. There is a quiz.
  5. The Contacts page also has a quiz linking to the Wikipedia article "Citizen Science".