An Introduction to Citizen Science
The videos and other material on this page will give you an introduction to the field of citizen science, the history, background and current trends, as well as a typology of the different types of citizen science. The recommended reading and videos in this module will take you about 1 hour to complete.
Everybody Counts
In this short TEDx talk, Caren Cooper introduces us to citizen science and shows how important every single participant is (15 min).
Recommended reading
This paper discusses how citizen science has changed recently, the impact that citizen science has and opportunities for the future of citizen science (2 pages).
Bonney et al. 2014. Next Steps for Citizen Science. Science, 343(6178), 1436–1437. Download it here
Video lectures
History, Trends and an Overview of Citizen Science, parts 1 & 2 (11 & 12 minutes)
Prof Muki Haklay Part 1 Introduction to Citizen Science
Prof Muki Haklay Part 2 Introduction to Citizen Science
Video lecture
A typology of Citizen Science (11 minutes)
Prof Muki Haklay Part 3 Introduction to Citizen Science
Activity
Explore some online citizen science projects
Zooniverse Whether you are interested in penguins, insects or transcribing old museum labels, Zooniverse is the place to look for interesting online citizen science projects
Explore some online and offline citizen science projects
SciStarter With more than 3,000 searchable projects from around the world, SciStarter is where you can find projects to do indoors, outdoors, at home, at school, at the beach, anywhere, across all topics and age groups
Further learning
Further reading
European Citizen Science Association (ECSA). The 10 principles of Citizen Science
Eitzel, M.V. et al., 2017. Citizen Science Terminology Matters: Exploring Key Terms. Citizen Science: Theory and Practice, 2(1), p1. You can find it here
POSTNote: Environmental Citizen Science. Number 476, August 2014. You can find it here
Cooper, C., 2017. Citizen Science: How Ordinary People are Changing the Face of Discovery. Gerald Duckworth & Co.
Further learning
Introduction to Citizen Science & Scientific Crowdsourcing, UCL, extensive free online course about citizen science. You can find it here
Other modules
There are five modules in this course. You can follow them in order or pick the ones that interest you.
Introduction to Citizen Science - this module
Environmental Citizen Science - zooming in on environmental applications and activities
Information Technology in Citizen Science - focusing on the importance of data management and IT platforms
Understanding Participant Motivation - addressing the common question of why people participate in citizen science
Evaluation - developing an appropriate evaluation for citizen science projects