Newsletter #10: May 31, 2012

Sometimes plants, animals, and other species wind up in places they don't belong. These species can become invasive if they thrive in the new environment and take over turf that had been home to native species. This week’s Research Missions are about locating or catching invasive species of particular concern to scientists. Plus, Discover Magazine and SciStarter present a bonus Research Mission this week: a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bear witness to the Transit of Venus across the sun on June 5 (USA) and help measure the size of the solar system using a free smart phone app in the process! Learn more about the Transit of Venus Research Mission and how you can take part.

The projects featured below, and dozens more, can be found in the SciStarter Project Finder.

Calling all researchers and science team leaders! Are you looking for citizen science volunteers to help with research? SciStarter brings projects and people together. If you’d like your project featured, submit it to the SciStarter Project Finder for consideration by the editors.

Would you like to contribute to the SciStarter blog? If so, email Dr. John Ohab, Director of Community Engagement: john@scistarter.com.

Keep experimenting!



- The SciStarter Team

Mitten Crab Watch

√   Animals

Spot aquatic invaders!

Join the Mitten Crab Watch network of people who are reporting where they find invasive mitten crabs along the US East Coast and Gulf Coast. The Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, in collaboration with other organizations, is collecting the information to better understand the distribution, abundance and status of invasive mitten crabs.



Bay Area Ant Survey

√   Insects

Collect invading ants.

The Bay Area Ant Survey is getting people living in and near San Francisco to collect ants in vials and send them to the California Academy of Sciences. This is in an effort to understand the distribution of ant species in the area and monitor the distribution of the invasive Argentine ant.



What's Invasive

Search for invasive plants with smartphones.

Invasive plants often crowd out other, native, plants and park rangers what to know where these invaders are lurking as they plan to get rid of them. You can help park rangers find invasive plants using your iPhone or Android phone through the What’s Invasive network. You can also text about the invasive species you find or add the information on the web site.