Citizen Science for Women’s History Month and Other March Events
It’s Women’s History Month AND we’re just two short weeks from Citizen Science Month. And that’s why we have Rosie the Robot urging everyone to roll up their sleeves and do their part by signing up for the One Million Acts of Science Challenge! If we all work together We Can Do It!
Portrait of Maria Mitchell, ca. 1851, painted four years after Mitchell achieved fame for discovering what came to be known as “Miss Mitchell’s Comet.” (Credit: Public Domain, from The Archives and Special Collections of the Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association.)
Celebrate Maria Mitchell, awesome astronomer and human
At the age of 16, Maria Mitchell opened her own public school on Nantucket Island- the only public school open to children of color. To hear the rest of her amazing story, tune into SciStarter LIVE, on Tuesday, March 19 at 2 pm US eastern daylight time. Or, after March 19, watch the video recording of the event on the SciStarter YouTube channel.
The CrowdWater citizen science project is a global effort to crowd-source information about streams and rivers, including water levels, flow rate, and plastic pollution. (Credit: CrowdWater)
Water you doing for World Water Day?
March 22 is World Water Day! This annual United Nations observance day highlights the importance of fresh water. To celebrate, how about joining CrowdWater? Download their mobile app and collect valuable information for rivers and streams near you, including water levels, streamflow quantities, soil moisture, and plastic pollution for a global database.
Manatees have more complex vocalizations than was previously known, especially between mothers and their young. (Credit: Robert Bonde, USGS- Public Domain)
Appreciate manatees
In honor of Manatee Appreciation Day (March 27), why not join Manatee Chat? You’ll listen to underwater audio recordings and try to pick out and characterize manatee vocalizations.
There are nearly 100 species of frog in North American, this northern leopard frog among them. For FrogWatch USA, you’ll listen to discover what frogs live in your area (Credit: Katie Goodwin, USFWS- public domain)
Keep an ear out for frogs
The project is called FrogWatch USA, but FrogListen might be more apt: as a volunteer, you’ll stake out a spot where you’re likely to hear frogs and spend three minutes listening and taking notes to share with FrogWatch workers. What better way to kick off Frog Awareness Day (March 20). Seeing this after March 20? April is National Frog Month!
There are projects and events for every day of Citizen Science Month in this interactive calendar.
Get ready for Citizen Science Month
And speaking of April, April is Citizen Science Month, and this year people from all over the world will be contributing the One Million Acts of Science challenge. And with this interactive calendar, you won’t miss a moment of Citizen Science Month action! There are curated events and projects that can be done from practically anywhere throughout the month.
Science cheerleader Janel (right) gets framed with SciStarter’s Emma Giles at the AwesomeCon Festival in Washington, DC. (Credit: Bob Hirshon)
Science Cheerleaders rock AwesomeCon
Need a bit more inspiration? The Science Cheerleaders are current and former professional and college cheerleaders who have embarked on science careers. They joined SciStarter at the AwesomeCon festival in Washington, DC to share their enthusiasm for science with attendees.