The Citizen Science Association, with support from SciStarter, is pleased to promote – and inspire sites to host – events in celebration of Citizen Science Day. Citizen Science Day is an annual event to celebrate and promote all things citizen science: amazing discoveries, incredible volunteers, hardworking practitioners, inspiring projects, and anything else citizen science-related!

Citizen Science Day 2018 will be celebrated on April 14th.
Events will be held around that time period.

In 2016, the first year of Citizen Science Day celebrations, activities kicked off with a major celebration at the USA National Science & Engineering Festival in Washington, DC. A series of citizen science “open houses” and activities followed, organized locally by science centers, museums, libraries, universities and schools, and federal agencies around the US and beyond. The celebrations culminated with the 2016 US National Parks Bioblitz, May 20-21.

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Interested in hosting a 2018 Citizen Science Day event?

See the sections below for resources, ideas, and examples for Citizen Science Day events! There are thousands of ways to celebrate citizen science from tweets to festivals, from showing videos to hosting data collecting events, from hosting a webinar to holding a workshop, and so many things in between! Find the celebration that’s right for you! If you decide to hold an event, please add it to SciStarter’s calendar and map so that it can be promoted widely and participants can find it.

Promote Citizen Science Day & associated events  |  Ideas & resources for in-person events  |  Ideas & resources for online events

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Promotional resources:

• Downloadable Logos (Creative Commons licensed for use by all)
• Promotional Video (Many thanks to The Crowd & The Cloud TV)
• Calendar and Map (Provided by SciStarter)
• Customizable Press Release (Download and use for your event)
• Full Event Press Release
• Social media kit: tweets, posts, and photos with the CitSci Day logo you’re welcome to use to get the word out
• On social media, please use #CitSciDay or #CitSciDay2018
• “What is Citizen Science” – interactive poster from ASU.
• SciStarter Featured Projects Flyer from SciStarter
• Event Poster as a PDF. Contact us for the editable version.
• 2018 Citizen Science Day webinar: provides an overview of Citizen Science Day, highlights available resources, provides examples of events held for past Citizen Science Days, and ends with a deep dive into innovative online events by Libby Ellwood from WeDigBio and Pietro Michelucci from Stall Catchers
• 2017 Citizen Science Day webinar: provides an overview of Citizen Science Day, a discussion of ideas and resources for events, and wraps up with a tutorial on how to run a BioBlitz, by Alison Young from California Academy of Sciences and Lila Higgins of the LA Natural History Museum

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Citizen Science Day event ideas and resources:

There are endless possibilities for doing something that celebrates and promotes citizen science on Citizen Science Day! From showing videos about citizen science to holding a discussion group about a recent citizen science journal article to hosting a data-gathering event for a citizen science project, see the list below for ideas, resources, and examples you can use to do something fun and educational for Citizen Science Day!

In-person events  |  Online events

In-person events:

• Hold a talk/presentation about citizen science
  • HOW-TO: How to host a science cafe
  • HOW-TO: Outreach Event Planning Guide
• Host a training
  • HOW-TO: Community Science Photography Training
• Hold a science festival
  • HOW-TO: Science Festival Alliance Toolkits
  • HOW-TO: Just add citizen science to March for Science
• Engage people in a data collection event (bioblitz, water monitoring, birding, etc.)
  • HOW-TO: How to hold a “Flashmob for Science” to measure the night sky brightness
  • HOW-TO: Running Bioblitzes using iNaturalist
  • HOW-TO: iNaturalist’s Bioblitz Guide
  • HOW-TO: iNaturalists’s Guide to Managing Projects
  • EXAMPLE: McLaren Park Bioblitz (held for 2016 Citizen Science Day)
  • EXAMPLE: Citizen science project – saguaro cactus
  • EXAMPLE: Transcribe-a-thon: Freedmen’s Bureau Papers
• Host a happy hour meet-up for citizen science (#CitSciDrinks)
  • EXAMPLE: Green Drinks
  • EXAMPLE: Citizen Science & Suds
  • RESOURCE: Meetup.com
• Organize a meeting or professional development workshop
  • HOW-TO: Course Guide: Teaching with Citizen Science
• Construct or install citizen science materials
  • Nest boxes
  • Bat houses and another example of how to make a bat house
  • Eclipse viewers and another example of a solar eclipse viewer
  • Telescopes
  • Bathyscopes
• Host a citizen science book or journal article discussion
  • For adults:
    • Citizen Science: Theory & Practice journal articles
    • Citizen Science: How Ordinary People are Changing the Face of Discovery by Caren Cooper
    • Citizen Science: Public Participation in Environmental Research by Janis Dickinson & Rick Bonney
    • Citizen Scientist: Searching for Heroes and Hope in an Age of Extinction by Mary Ellen Hannibal
    • The Rightful Place of Science: Citizen Science by Darlene Cavalier and Eric Kennedy
    • Diary of a Citizen Scientist by Sharman Apt Russel
  • For kids:
    • Bat Count: A Citizen Science Story by Anna Forrester
    • Moonlight Crab Count by Neeti Bathala
• Host a viewing party of some great citizen science-related videos
  • MEDIA: The Crowd and The Cloud
  • MEDIA: SciGirls
  • MEDIA: Inspirational citizen science TEDx talks
    • • Can Citizen Science Save Us? | Mary Ellen Hannibal | TEDxStanford
      • Citizen Science: Everybody Counts | Caren Cooper | TEDxGreensboro
      • Learning to Love Nature in a Big City | Lila Higgins | TEDxPasadena
    • The Future of Discovery – Citizen Science | Rob Dunn | TEDxSantaCruz
  • MEDIA: SciShow – The Awesome Power of Citizen Science
• Hold a recognition event for your stellar citizen science volunteers

Online events:

• Host a citizen science webinar
  • HOW-TO: Host a webinar with Go-To-Meeting
  • HOW-TO: Host your webinar using Google Hangouts on Air (free)
  • HOW-TO: The 9 Best Webinar Hosting Tactics for Educators
• Host an online chat or Q&A about a specific project or citizen science in general on a social media platform, like:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google Hangouts
  • Zooniverse or other talk boards
  • Periscope
  • Slack
• Hold an online project event (classification-a-thon, special options or components for the day, competition or tournament)
  • EXAMPLE: How to Build a Project on the Zooniverse
  • EXAMPLE: Stall Catchers competition
• Host a hack-a-thon
  • HOW-TO: How to host a successful Hackathon
  • HOW-TO: Youth hackathon playbook
  • EXAMPLE: Science Hack Day
• Update Wikipedia pages via an edit-a-thon
  • HOW-TO: Run a Wikipedia edit-a-thon
• Host a citizen science book or journal article discussion online: see the list in the in-person events and combine it with an online chat!

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Check out a list of past FAQs that sites – such as museums, libraries, parks, and nature centers – can use to plan locally-relevant activities that bring attention to citizen science impacts and opportunities.

If you are hosting Citizen Science Day celebrations, please add your details to SciStarter’s calendar and map so that we can help promote your event and demonstrate the reach and diversity of activities.

Citizen Science Day is co-sponsored by the Citizen Science Association and SciStarter and is coordinated by the Citizen Science Day Task Force. We are grateful to the organizations listed below for offering their support. If you would like to join them in advancing or sponsoring Citizen Science Day, please contact us.

• SciStarter
• Crowd and the Cloud
• Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
• California Academy of Sciences