Donate your time to science.
Participating in citizen science is a great way to better understand climate change and its impacts—and it’s a lot of fun too! Citizen scientists do all sorts of things like watch birds, count frogs, collect rain, track temperature, document spring bloom dates, test water quality, and even monitor lobsters. Whatever your passion, there’s a citizen science project for you.
This groundbreaking report was made possible by data from thousands of citizen scientists participating in the Christmas Bird Count and Breeding Bird Survey.
What is citizen science?
Citizen science is a partnership between volunteers and trained scientists. Regular citizens help answer real scientific questions by contributing a little bit of time and a lot of data.
Who can be a citizen scientist?
Just about anyone can be a citizen scientist regardless of age, experience, or scientific training. With so many projects to choose from, you’re sure to find one that’s just right for you.
How much time does it take?
Each citizen science project is different. Some projects require only a few minutes of your time, while others would love for you to spend as much time as you are able to give.
Will I need formal training?
For most projects, no formal training is required. When you join a citizen science program, you’ll be given all the instructions you need for how to collect, record, and share your data.
How will my data be used?
Once your observations have been submitted to a central database, they get analyzed by trained scientists. The results are used in a variety of ways: to advance scientific understanding, to identify and draw attention to conservation issues, and to provide recommendations to local and national policy-makers.
How do I get started?
The first steps are to decide what you’re most interested in and pick a project. Who knows? You might already have a hobby or interest that you can use to help scientists collect valuable data about New England's animal life, forests and plant life, oceans, and weather of New England.