CSA is excited to once again partner with SciStarter to present Citizen Science Day 2017!

This month-long series of regional events is a chance to celebrate and bring attention to the ways that everyone can engage with science to make a difference in the world – whether that is helping find a cure for disease, using data to address sources of air pollution, or making discoveries of new phenomena in our backyards or in space. #CitSciDay activities will commence on Saturday, April 15th and will continue into May. Celebrations will culminate with activities held at the Citizen Science Association Conference, including a May 17th Hackathon at the University of Minnesota, a Friday night Science Cafe style event (featuring screenings from The Crowd and The Cloud) for presenters and the public, and a family-friendly Science Festival at the Science Museum of Minnesota on Saturday, May 20th.

We invite citizen scientists and project leaders from around the world to celebrate citizen science during this time. Events during 2016 celebrations included BioBlitzes in National Parks and community green spaces, transcription challenges at local libraries, citizen science hikes, science festivals, workshops, and more! Even if there isn’t a local event planned in your community, you can participate in one of SciStarter’s thousands of citizen science projects on topics ranging from Astronomy to Zoology.

Are you looking to host an event?

A CSA CitSciDay task team collaborated with SciStarter to host a February 8th, 2017, webinar to help interested organizations plan Citizen Science Day activities (watch the webinar on YouTube). The webinar provides an overview of Citizen Science Day, illustrates highlights from 2016 activities, provides a discussion of ideas and resources for hosting events and regional meet-ups, and, in general, helps you prepare for Citizen Science Day 2017. The webinar wraps up with a brief tutorial on how to run a BioBlitz, by Alison Young from California Academy of Sciences and Lila Higgins of the LA Natural History Museum – coordinators of the City Nature Challenge, which also coincides with CitSciDay.

Once you’ve planned your event, add it to the SciStarter Events Calendar so people can find it. SciStarter will also advance event promotion through syndicated partners including Discover Magazine, Astronomy Magazine, PBS, PLoS, NSTA, Philly.com, and more.

If you have any additional resources and ideas to share, or if you need assistance planning and promoting a Citizen Science Day event, please reach out to Catherine Hoffman (catherine@scistarter.com).

Posted on: February 22, 2017  |  Category: Blog, Citizen Science Month, CSA Blog, Uncategorized