Participation in citizen science projects is not only beneficial for research but improves our capacity to understand the world around us and strengthens our ability to make positive change. Building on suggested student projects from last year, here are some of the more interesting projects you can join right now!

Checking for Change
Do you have an interest in ecology or conservation? Checking for Change calls on citizen scientists to assist in tracking environmental changes to improve biodiversity outcomes. A straightforward guideline allows individual land managers, schools and communities to participate in monitoring and contribute to real conservation activities.

Critterpedia
Consider yourself the next Bindi Irwin or David Attenborough? Critterpedia is described as a fun learning platform that’s working to change humankind’s relationship with the natural world through exciting, educational and interactive technologies. The nifty app allows users to not only identify mystery creepy crawlies, but the artificially intelligent (AI) platform also considers additional information, like GPS location and time of year. Each new user helps contribute to program improvement as the AI learns new information.

Date a Fossil
If you prefer your critter’s to be a lot less crawly, dating fossils could be your calling, Become an amateur palaeontologist from home and help reveal new information about ancient ecosystems. This Australian Museum program aims to engage citizen scientists to identify microfossils within images automatically collected using scanning electron microscope (SEM) technology. The resulting data will help document missing pieces from Australia’s past.

DigiVol
Up until recently, invaluable specimens and objects in the Australian Museum were only available to researchers with access to the collections’ physical location in the museum. Today DigiVol allows citizen scientists like us to inspect and transcribe valuable information into databases. Your good work will directly assist researchers, scientists, and data analysts around the world.

Powerful Owl Project
With a name like the Powerful Owl Project, who wouldn’t want to get involved? This program works to train citizen scientists to track the distribution of owls across Australia and identify additional activities like breeding patterns. Your volunteer work could help save an owl habitat or reduce environmental risks to owls.

If you know any other great citizen science projects, we’d love to hear about them! Please send recommendations or feedback to info@solarschools.net.