Citizen science project list for everyone interested in getting involved - but perhaps confused about where to start. Most projects are available for worldwide participation, and are categorized by type (distributed computing, distributed thinking, other crowd-sourced projects, game-based citizen science). Projects that you can participate in directly through your Android-based smartphone or iPhone are listed separately for convenience. Special projects, such as ones designed specifically for students, and extra handy tools (e.g. measure apps and field guides) are also included. More updated versions to come! Suggestions / alternative lists for specific geographic regions welcome!

1. Citizen science: ongoing projects & tools v. 01
By Egle Marija
Ramanauskaite
(molecular biologist,
science journalist,
educator interested in
citizen science)
Created
September 2014
as part of:
Disclaimer: all projects and trademarks are used to provide an overview of what is available in the citizen science world. This is a non-profit and a completely independent initiative. The work is licensed under CC-BY-NC-4.0.

2. Table of contents
Distributed computing projects pg. 3 (no. 1-5)
Distributed thinking projects pg. 4-6 (no. 6-18)
Other crowdsourcing projects pg. 7 (no. 19-22)
App-based projects pg. 8-9 (no. 23-27)
Citizen science games pg. 10-11 (no. 28-35)
Projects for students pg. 12 (no. 36)
Project lists pg. 12 (no. i-xv)
Tools & field guides pg. 13-14
Image credits pg. 15
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3. Distributed computing projects:
All based on downloading software, which uses computer’s idle time to run algorithms & solve problems; no “live” involvement.
Most distributed computing projects lie within BOINC platform and the full list can be found here -
http://boinc.berkeley.edu/projects.php. Bellow are some examples.
1. SETI@home http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/
2. Rosetta@home http://boinc.bakerlab.org/rosetta/
3. Milkyway@home http://milkyway.cs.rpi.edu/milkyway/
4. FightMalaria@Home http://boinc.ucd.ie/fmah/
5. Climateprediction.net http://www.climateprediction.net/
Searching for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI).
Folding proteins into stable 3D shapes to understand protein tertiary structure and fight diseases.
Creating an accurate 3D model of the Milky Way galaxy.
Running simulations of malaria proteins to aid disease understanding and search for a cure.
Running different climate models to understand how climate change is affecting the world.
Many others are available on BOINC (and, possibly, other) platform.
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4. Distributed thinking projects:
Relies on the keen human eye (which is usually superior to computer algorithms) and “crowd-thinking” to look through huge amounts of data and / or
solve complex scientific questions, improve computer algorithms (instead of just collecting data).
6. The Sun Lab http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/labs/lab/sun/ Astronomy
7. The Cloud Lab http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/labs/lab/cloud/ Climate
8. The Energy Lab http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/labs/lab/energy/ Environment
Zoouniverse citizen science platform provides many distributed thinking projects in astronomy, climate,
environment, biology and the humanities. Below are some of the best examples, but the rest can be explored
at https://www.zooniverse.org/projects.
Asks to classify clouds and use real data to explore and re-create major storms.
Provides data, images and tools to explore Solar storms.
Asks to design renewable energy systems suitable for large cities and areas.
Projects 1-3 are all within NovaLabs platform http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/labs/.
Aims to look through millions of galaxy images to understand galaxy formation and other
processed in the Universe – participants classify galaxies according to their shapes.
9. Galaxy Zoo http://www.galaxyzoo.org/ Astronomy
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5. 10. The Milky Way Project http://www.milkywayproject.org/ Astronomy
11. Radio Galaxy Zoo http://radio.galaxyzoo.org/ Astronomy
12. OperationWar Diary http://www.operationwardiary.org/ History
13. Whale.fm http://whale.fm/ Biology
14. Bat Detective http://www.batdetective.org/ Biology
Analyzing infrared data from Spitzer Space Telescope images to aid understanding of how
stars form, mark objects and undiscovered galaxies for an ultimate Milky Way map.
Analyzing images from a radio telescope looking for supermassive black holes within galaxies.
Scientists aim to understand the formation of supermassive black holes and the effect this
process has on their host galaxies.
Transcribe WWI British war diaries – analyzing 1.5 mln pages of war diaries is anticipated to
refine the history of the Western Front.
Listen to audios made with underwater microphones (hydrophones) to identify killer whale
and pilot whale songs, and classify different dialects. The data should help scientists decipher
whale “languages” and gather knowledge about these mammals.
Listen to and classify bat calls to monitor bat populations and get important insights into
overall environmental issues. 5

6. 15. WormWatch Lab http://www.wormwatchlab.org/ Genetics
16. Cell Slider http://www.cellslider.net/ Cell biology / cancer
And there are many more within the Zoouniverse!
17. Stardust@home http://stardustathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/ Astronomy
18. ForestWatchers http://forestwatchers.net/pybossa
Watch microscope recordings of live C. elegans nematodes and spot them laying eggs.
Various genetic mutants are expected to change egg-laying patterns helping scientists to
discover gene functions. Homologs of C. elegans genes are also found in humans, aiding
human genetic research.
Analyze aerogel images brought back to Earth during Stardust mission, looking for
interstellar dust particles. Millions of aerogel images allow to zoom in and out through
multiple layers looking for what is likely to be dust particles.
Look through multiple microscope images of and describe what you see – normal or cancerous cells,
their color, shape or anything unusual (cells may be treated or untreated). This helps scientists to go
through massive amounts of data, which is used to classify tumors and develop more sophisticated
target therapies.
Run by Zoouniverse and Cancer Research UK.
Cleaning and marking satellite images to find deforestation areas around the globe.
PYBOSSA open source platform also hosts multiple citizen science projects - http://pybossa.com/. Bellow is
one example.
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7. Other crowdsourcing projects:
Relies on public contribution to collect greater amounts data often over large geographic regions, which could never be achieved by one or a group of
scientists alone.
19. SavingEnergy@Home http://savingenergy.socientize.eu/en/ Environment
20. Evolution Megalab http://www.evolutionmegalab.org/en_GB Evolution
21. The Great Sunflower Project https://www.greatsunflower.org/ Conservation
22. eBird http://ebird.org/ Conservation
Global effort to track and count plant pollinators (many of which have recently become endangered)
worldwide and inform biodiversity and conservation research.
Aimed to collect as much temperature data as possible to create global temperature maps and discover
best energy-wise solutions. Citizen participants measure indoor and outdoor temperature in their
environment, and explore different energy saving approaches.
Participants observe and record the colors and patterns of garden snails in their
environment, in order to study their adaptation to different environments, and how
these adaptations change in response to climate change and other factors.
Platform dedicated to collecting bird-watching data to aid biodiversity and conservationstudies.
Many more are available on local scale, e.g. US, but currently I am only including global ones. 7

8. App-based projects:
23. The Globe at Night http://www.globeatnight.org/ Environment / Astronomy
Android and iOS apps to monitor light pollution and create global light pollution
maps.
Android and iOS apps to monitor noise levels in your daily environment.
24. NoiseTube http://noisetube.net/ Environment
25. Secchi marine phytoplankton Environment
http://www1.plymouth.ac.uk/marine/secchidisk/
Android and iOS apps to monitor marine phytoplankton, which is an important
player (main autotroph) in marine ecosystems, and assess the effect of climate
change and other environmental factors on these delicate organisms. Involves
making a DIY secchi disk.
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9. 26. Marine Litter Watch Environment
http://www.eea.europa.eu/themes/coast_sea/marine-litterwatch
27. That‘s Invasive Conservation
http://www.rinse-europe.eu/news/view/evaluate-the-rinse-app-that-s-invasive
Android app designed to record litter on European coasts and organize cleaning campaigns.
Upcoming cleaning events are displayed on the map for anyone to participate in. Collected
data is used by scientists to understand where is marine litter coming from and how to control
it.
Again, many more are available on local scale, but currently I am only including the best global ones (and
some available European) examples.
Android and iOS apps to record and identify invasive (non-native) species in
Europe. The results should inform conservation efforts and biodiversity studies.
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10. Citizen science games:
Center for game science runs many scientific and citizen science games; below are two of the best
examples, and the rest can be found here - http://centerforgamescience.org/games/.
28. Foldit http://fold.it/portal/ Molecular biology
29. Nanocrafter http://nanocrafter.org/ Molecular / synthetic biology
The following two games are from NovaLabs - http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/labs/.
30. EteRNA http://eterna.cmu.edu/web/ Molecular biology
31. Cybersecurity Lab http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/labs/lab/cyber/ IT
Defending a company against simulated cyber attacks, developing cyber defenses and completing cyber
security challenges.
Taking advantage of human 3D thinking skills (which are superior to that of any AI) participants are
asked to fold known polypeptides into stable proteins. Players compete and collaborate, share recipes,
gather into groups. Best players can be checked out at the scoreboard. Reconstructed protein tertiary
structures aid cancer, HIV, Ebola research and many others.
Players use pieces of DNA to design various nanoscale devices. Discoveries are used to
inspire actual synthetic biology and nanoscale manufacturing.
Players fold actual RNR molecules and discover new designs – best are synthesized in the lab and may
be used for future therapeutics and
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11. 32. Phylo http://phylo.cs.mcgill.ca/ Molecular biology
33. OldWeather http://www.oldweather.org/ Climate
34. EyeWire https://eyewire.org/ Neuroscience
35. Citizen Sort http://www.citizensort.org/ Biology
Solve colorful phylogenetics puzzles to refine multiple sequence alignments – something that is
challenging to do by computer algorithms alone. The players help to recreate actual evolutionary
relationships, help to reveal gene function and gain insight into genetic diseases. Algorithms are also
refined as a result.
Transcribe ship logs from 1850 to WWII to gather precise data about weather conditions.
Players “join” expeditions and gain points for different transcription efforts (e.g. just
numbering the pages earns some points too).
The game is run by Zoouniverse - https://www.zooniverse.org/projects.
Mapping 3D structure of neurons – players follow neuronal branches and mark connection recreating the
3D map of the brain and helping scientists understand how neural networks are created and how they
work. Human effort also “train” computer algorithms to recreate neural networks. Players connect
points and face gradually more complicated challenges.
Host several citizen science games: Hunt & Gather, Happy Match & Forgotten Island for
science-lovers, as well as professional sciences. Games are based on sorting & classifying
to learn about nature.
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12. Projects for students:
36. The SHArK Project http://www.thesharkproject.org/ Physics / Environment
Nothing to do with sharks, but splitting water with sunlight instead. Students are invited to experiment
with inexpensive kits to find stable semiconductors that might photoelectrolyze water.
Project lists: (where you will find these and many more citizen science projects)
http://socientize.eu/?q=eu/content/outras-experi%C3%AAncias
http://www.scientificamerican.com/citizen-science
http://www.openscientist.org/p/citizen-science-for-your-phone.html
http://scistarter.com/finder
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13. Tools & field guides:
i. EpiCollect http://www.epicollect.net/ Data collection
ii. Magpi http://www.datadyne.org/magpi-mobile/ Data collection
iii. Cybertracker http://cybertracker.org/ Data collection
iv. Movebank https://www.movebank.org/ Data analysis
v. Project Noah http://www.projectnoah.org/ Data upload, sightings
vi. iNaturalist.org http://www.inaturalist.org/ Data upload, sightings
Web, Android and iOS, custom data collection forms, data analysis & export on a smartphone or a web
browser. Advanced version (EpiCollect+) on web and Android for complex projects.
Form-based data collection through mobile phone.
Android, gps field data collection on a smartphone.
Web platform for tracking animal movements (e.g. Cat Tracker project is designed to track where and
when is your cat). Platform allows to upload and analyze movement data, or view it on a map.
A social platform for nature lovers, where everyone can upload sightings of plants, animals and other
organisms, ask for help to identify them, participate in missions and earn badges.
Another platform for nature lovers to upload and share their sightings.
vii. Public Lab http://publiclab.org/ Data upload, ideas
Ideas and DIY tools for a variety of projects. Data from individual projects can be uploaded and shared
within the community.
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14. viii. PYBOSSA http://pybossa.com/ Software tool for project creation
All of the following tools and field guides are apps (OS is indicated in each case).
ix. Star Walk Android, iOS
x. Audubon Android, iOS, Kindle, NOOK Colour
xi. Twigle Birds Field Guide Windows Phone
xii. MyNature Android, iOS
xiii.iPest1 iOS
xiv.RockHound iOS
xv. Molecules iOS
Many field guides for birds, mammals, reptiles, insects, plants etc. for different geographical regions.
Interactive astronomy field guide.
Helps to identify European and American bird songs.
Field guides for animal footprints, trees.
Field guide for identifying pests.
Field guide identifying rocks.
3D models of various molecules (DNA, RNA, proteins etc.)
Open source platform for creating own citizen science projects.
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15. Image credits (in order):
• Science is great, open it (open science) by Martin Clavey https://flic.kr/p/ajVSXQ CC BY-SA 2.0
• BOINC logo from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BOINC_Logo_custom.png#mediaviewer/File:BOINC_Logo_custom.png CC BY-SA 3.0
• All Zooniverse logos by Grant Miller for the Zooniverse http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Zooniverse CC-BY-NC-4.0
• Stardust@Home logo http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Logo_Stardust@Home.png (free licence)
• Evolution Megalab logo http://www.evolutionmegalab.org/
• Globe at Night logo http://www.globeatnight.org/
• Noisetube logo http://noisetube.net/
• Secchi disk logo http://www1.plymouth.ac.uk/marine/secchidisk/Pages/Press-pack.aspx
• Marine Litter Watch logo https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.litterwatch
• RINSE logo http://www.rinse-europe.eu/ins
• Nanocrafter logo http://centerforgamescience.org/page/4/
• Citizensort logo http://www.citizensort.org/web.php/aboutus
• Field Guide by Ian Collins https://flic.kr/p/abGUao CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
• PhotonQ-Children of Siecle Bleu by PhOtOnQuAnTiQuE https://flic.kr/p/cCLj2w CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
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