Newsletter #15: August 23, 2012

Heading to the beach for one more blast of summer? Why not lend a helping hand to science while bumming at the beach? Shark Week might be over, but there is more life in the ocean than just sharks, for course. Get your feet wet with this week’s Research Missions and help researchers learn more about less Jaws-like marine creatures. You’ll find three of these projects – about oysters, jellyfish, and fish – described below, and more projects in the SciStarter Project Finder.

On land, thousands of citizen scientists will be investigating the plants, animals and other living things this weekend (August 24-26) as a part of the National Geographic BioBlitz at Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park. Volunteers will be will be counting all the species they can find in the park during the event. Contributor Pete Maddon provides the lowdown on BioBlitz in a recent blog post.

Hundreds of people gathered to discuss ways to advance citizen science at the August 4-5 conference on Public Participation in Scientific Research including SciStarter founder, Darlene Cavalier. The conversation about the current state of citizen science continues in this month’s special issue of Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. Contributor Lily Blui sets the perspectives in context in a forthcoming blog post. Stay tuned!

Reminder: 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. Would you like your project featured in the SciStarter Newsletter? If so, email Dr. Lisa Gardiner, Editor: lisa@scistarter.com.

Keep experimenting!

- The SciStarter Team

State of the Oyster

State of the Oyster

Volunteers in Washington State are monitoring bacterial contamination levels in edible shellfish collected from beaches in Hood Canal and throughout Puget Sound through the State of the Oyster project. So far, residents on more than 300 beaches have learned what makes oysters and clams safer.



Jellywatch

Jellywatch

Citizen scientists are reporting their jellyfish spottings to Jellywatch, a public database documenting ocean conditions. They also track red tides, squid and mammal strandings, and other indicators of ocean health.



REEF Volunteer Fish Survey Project

REEF Volunteer Fish Survey Project

Volunteer scuba divers and snorkelers along the Pacific coast, the Caribbean and western Atlantic and Hawaii are reporting the fish they see while diving in an effort to better understand the species living in these marine ecosystems.