List of citizen science projects

Precis

Activities vary widely from transcribing old ship logbooks to digitize the data as part of the Old Weather project to observing and counting birds at home or in the field for eBird. Participation can be as simple as playing a computer game for a project called Eyewire that may help scientists learn more about retinal neurons. It can also be more in depth, such as when citizens collect water quality data over time to assess the health of local waters, or help discover and name new species of insects. An emerging branch of Citizen Science are Community Mapping projects that utilize smartphone and tablet technology. For example, TurtleSAT is a community mapping project that is mapping freshwater turtle deaths throughout Australia.

This list of citizen science projects involves projects that engage all age groups. There are projects specifically aimed at the younger age demographic like iTechExplorers which was created by a 14 year old in the UK to assess the effects of bedtime technology on the body's circadian rhythm and can be completed in a classroom setting. Other projects like AgeGuess focus on the senior demographics and enable the elderly to upload photos of themselves so the public can guess different ages.

Lists of citizen science projects may change. For example, the Old Weather project website indicates that January 10, 2015, 51% of the logs were completed. When that project reaches 100 percent, it will move to the completed list. |- |Fishing For Jellyfish Galaxies |Astronomy, Galactic Research, Astrophysics |Zooniverse |Worldwide

| |- | Backyard worlds: Planet 9 | Astronomy | NASA | Worldwide

| |- | Air Quality Eggs | Air Quality, Pollution, Climate Change, Health | WickedDevices, LLC | Ithaca, NY, US | |- | Anecdata.org | Air Quality, Botany, Entomology, Ecology, Lepidopterology, Ornithology, Phenology, Water Quality, Zoology | MDI Biological Laboratory | Worldwide

| |- | FrogWatch Canada | Herpetology, Ecology | Nature Canada | Canada | |- | Amphibian Migrations and Road Crossings | Herpetology, Ecology | Department of Environmental Conservation, NY, US | New York, US | |- | Aquila Project | Environmental Science | West Kimberley Rubber Vine Eradication Program | Kimberley, Western Australia, Australia

| | Argentina

| |Bangladesh | |- | BioDiversity Heritage Library Flickr Image Tagging | Taxonomy, Ornithology, Entomology, Zoology, Botany | Biodiversity Heritage Library | Worldwide | |- | BioNote | Biology, Botany, Zoology, Biogeography, Taxonomy | BioNote, University of Gothenburg, Climate-KIC, European Research Council | Worldwide

| |- |Birdcount India |Ornithology, Biology, Ecology, Conservation |Bird Count India partnership |India

| |- | Cicada Watch: Brood II | Entomology | National Geographic Society | Northeastern America

| | |- | Citclops / EyeOnWater | Environmental science | European Commission | Worldwide

| |- | Citizen Weather Observer Program (CWOP) | Meteorology, climatology, hydrology | National Weather Service (NWS) | US | |- | Ciudadanos Cientifícos | Air Quality, Air Pollution, Meteorology | SIATA | Valle de Aburrá - Colombia

| |Myanmar

| | UK

| |- | Digital Access to a Sky Century @ Harvard | Astronomy | Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian | US

| |- | Galaxy Explorer | Astronomy | National Science Week Australia, Australian Broadcasting Corporation | Australia

| | Georgia, US

| |- | Golden Gate Raptor Observatory | Ornithology, Migration, Phenology, Population Change | Golden Gate Natl Parks Conservancy | Pacific States

| |- | Great Cocky Count | Ornithology | Birdlife Australia | Western Australia

| |- | Genographic Project | Population genetics | National Geographic Society, IBM | Worldwide

| |Hong Kong

| |- | iNaturalist | Botany, Entomology, Ecology, Lepidopterology, Ornithology, Phenology, Zoology | California Academy of Sciences | Worldwide

| |- | Instant Wild | Wildlife, Ecology, Species Diversity, Conservation, Zoology | Zoological Society of London | Worldwide

| | Worldwide

| |- | Mark2Cure | Biomedical research | The Su Lab at Scripps Research Institute | US (CA)

| |- | Monarch Health | Entomology, Lepidopterology | University of Georgia | Canada, US | |- | Monarch Larva Monitoring Project | Entomology, Lepidopterology | University of Minnesota | Canada, US | |- | Monarch Watch | Entomology, Lepidopterology | University of Kansas | Canada, US

• Simply craters
• Man vs machine | Planetary astronomy | CosmoQuest.org | Worldwide | 2011 |- |Mosquito Alert | Entomology, Ecology, Public Health | Center for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications (CREAF) and Center for Advance Studies of Blanes (CEAB-CSIC) | Spain | 2013 |- | Mozak | Neuroscience | Center for Game Science | Worldwide | 2016 |- | National Moth Week (NMW) | Entomology | Friends of the East Brunswick Environmental Commission | Worldwide | 2012 |- | Nature's Calendar | Phenology | Woodland Trust | UK | |- |Nature's Calendar | Phenology | Zentralanstalt für Meteorologie und Geodynamik (ZAMG), SPOTTERON Collaboration | Europe | 2018 |- | Nature's Notebook | Phenology | USA National Phenology Network | US | 2009 |- | NatureWatch
• FrogWatch
• IceWatch
• PlantWatch
• WormWatch | Ecology, Phenology, Herpetology | Nature Canada | Canada | |- | NatureWatch NZ | Botany, Entomology, Ecology, Ornithology, Phenology, Zoology | New Zealand Bio-Diversity Recording Network Trust | New Zealand | 2006 (as NZBRN) |- | Natusfera | Biodiversity | Spanish GBIF node, Center for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications (CREAF), Institute of Marine Sciences (ICM-CSIC), FECyT | Europe | 2016 |- | Neighborhood Nestwatch | Ornithology | Migratory Bird Center, National Zoological Park, SI | US | |- | NestWatch | Ornithology | Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Americas | 2008 |- | North American Field Herping Association | Herpetology | North American field herping community | North America | 2007 |- | North American Bird Phenology Program | Ornithology | United States Geological Survey | North America | 2008 |- | Notes from Nature | Botany, Entomology, Ornithology, Mycology | Zooniverse collaboration | Worldwide | |- | Observation.org | Botany, Entomology, Ecology, Lepidopterology, Ornithology, Phenology, Zoology | | Worldwide | |- | Odonata Central | Odonata | | North America | 2004 |- | Old Weather | Climatology | Zooniverse collaboration | Worldwide | |- | Ontario BioBlitz | Botany, Ecology, Entomology, Herpetology, Ichthyology, Lepidopterology, Ornithology | Royal Ontario Museum, Canadian Wildlife Federation, Nature Conservancy of Canada, Ontario Nature, Toronto Zoo, Toronto and Region Conservation Authority | Canada (Ontario) | 2012 |- | Ontario Butterfly Atlas Online || Lepidopterology, Entomology | Toronto Entomologists' Association | Canada (Ontario) | 1969 |- | Ontario Reptile and Amphibian Atlas | Herpetology | Ontario Nature, Ministry of Natural Resources' Natural Heritage Information Centre (NHIC) | Canada (Ontario) | |- | Operation Wallacea | Biodiversity | Worldwide | UK | 1996 |- | Orca Game | Bioacoustics | Orchive | Worldwide | 2013 |- | Orchids:Terrestrial Spiranthes in an Urban Environment | Urban Conservation | Hoyt Arboretum | Portland, OR | 2014 |- | Ornitho Deutschland | Ornithology | | Austria, France (part), Germany, Italy, Luxemburg, Poland, Spain (part), Switzerland | |- |OSDG Community platform || Sustainable Development Goals, Machine Learning | OSDG, UNDP IICPSD SDG AI Lab, PPMI | Worldwide | 2021 |- | Painted Lady Migration Project | Lepidopterology | Institut de Biologia Evolutiva, National Geographic, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, British Ecological Society, Barcelona zoo, Harvard University, Zerynthia Association | Worldwide | |- | PARS (Pennsylvania Amphibian and Reptile Survey) | Biology, Marine biology, Environmental protection | MACHAC | Pennsylvania, US | |- | Penguin Watch | Ornithology | Zooniverse collaboration | Worldwide | |- | Pieris Project | Lepidopterology, Entomology | theryanlab.com | Worldwide | 2014 |- | Pl@ntNet | Botany | Inra Inria | Worldwide | 2008 |- |Pilzfinder |Mycology |Austrian Mycology Society, University of Vienna, SPOTTERON collaboration |Europe |2019 |- | Planet Mappers: Mercury | Planetary astronomy | CosmoQuest.org | Worldwide | 2011 |- | Plankton Project | Marine biology, Zoology | Zooniverse collaboration | Worldwide | 2013 |- | Portland Urban Coyote Project | Ecology, Geography, Zoology, Human Dimensions of Wildlife, Mapping | Portland State University | Portland, Oregon | 2011 |- | PressureNET | Meteorology, Climatology | Cumulonimbus Inc. | Worldwide | 2011 |- | Project Roadkill | Ecology, Road Safety | University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna | Worldwide | 2014 |- |Project Splatter (Now The Road Lab) |Ecology, Conservation |Cardiff University |UK |2013 |- | Project Discovery I. | Biology, Cellular biology | Human Protein Atlas (KTH), CCP Games, MMOS | Worldwide | 2016 |- | Project Discovery II. | Astronomy | University of Geneva, CCP Games, MMOS | Worldwide | 2017 |- | Project Dive Exploration (PDE) | Decompression research | Divers Alert Network | North America | |- | Project Soothe | Clinical psychology, Psychotherapy | University of Edinburgh | Worldwide | 2014 |- | Public Lab | Ecology, environmental science | The Public Laboratory for Open Technology and Science | US | 2010 |- | PurpleAir | Air quality, environmental science | | Worldwide | 2015 |- | Quantum Moves | Quantum physics, Quantum mechanics | CODER, Aarhus University | Worldwide | 2013 |- | Radio Galaxy Zoo | Radio Astronomy | Zooniverse | Worldwide | December 2013 |- | Redmap (Range Extension Database and Mapping Project) | Marine Ecology, Species distribution, Climate Change | Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania | Australia | 2009 |- | Redmet | Environmental Meteorological Network | Hacedores | Mexico | 2017 |- | Reading Nature's Library | | Manchester Museum, University of Manchester | UK | |- | Reef Life Survey (RLS) | | Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania | Australia | |- | Reef Check Med | Marine Biology, Marine Ecology, Environmental Science, Global change, Human impact on marine life | Reef Check Italia, Reef Check Deutschland, Reef Check France, Reef Check worldwide foundation | Mediterranean Sea | 2016 |- | Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF) | Marine conservation, Marine biology | Non-profit organization | Key Largo, FL (worldwide) | 1990 |- | Report-a-weed | Biodiversity | British Columbia government | Canada | unknown |- |Roadkill | Biodiversity, transportation | University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, SPOTTERON Collaboration | Worldwide | 2015 |- | SatCam | Meteorology | University of Wisconsin–Madison | Worldwide | |- | Science Gossip Biodiversity Heritage Library | Biodiversity, libraries, art | Zooniverse collaboration | Worldwide | 2015 |- | Safecast | Ionizing radiation, Air Quality | Momoko Ito Foundation | Worldwide | 2011 |- | SciStarter | All Fields of Science | Research affiliate Arizona State University | Worldwide | 2011 |- | SeagrassSpotter | Seagrass | Project Seagrass | Worldwide - Marine | 2016 |- | Secchi Disk | Phytoplankton | Secchi Disk Project | Worldwide - Marine | 2013 |- |Sensafety |Urbanism, Urban studies |Technische Universität Berlin |Worldwide |2019 |- |Sensing the Air |Biology | |Israel | |- |Sensor.Community |Air quality, Noise | |Worldwide |2015 |- | SETI@home | Astronomy | University of California, Berkeley | Worldwide | 1999 |- |Sharkbook / Sharkbook |Conservation, Marine Biology, Wildlife Biology, Ecology |Marine Megafauna Foundation, Wild Me |Worldwide |2012(?) |- | The Shore Thing Project | Biology, Marine Biology, Invasive Species, Climate Change | Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom | UK | 2006 |- | Smart Citizen Kit 2.1 | Air quality, Noise, Pollution | | Worldwide | |- | Smithsonian Transcription Center | Astronomy, Botany, Entomology | Smithsonian Institution | US | 2014 |- | Snowtweets | Meteorology | University of Waterloo | Canada | |- | Socientize | Life sciences mainly | European Commission | Worldwide | 2012 |- | Speak to AI | Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Linguistics | University of California, Irvine | Worldwide | 2018 |- | SPLASSH | Water Quality, Pollution | Kennesaw State University | Worldwide | 2013 |- | Species Observations System | Botany, Entomology, Ecology, Ornithology, Phenology, Zoology | Norwegian Biodiversity Information Centre, Norwegian Biodiversity Network | Norway | 2008 |- | Stall Catchers | Biomedical, Alzheimer's, | A game to accelerate Alzheimer's research | Worldwide | 2015 |- | Striped AmBASSadors | Fisheries, Conservation, Ecology | Striped Bass Research Team, Acadia University | NS, Canada | 2010 |- |Taiwan Roadkill Observation Network |Engineering, Environmental Science, Ecology |Lusheng Society |Taiwan |2019 |- |Taiwan Breeding Bird Survey |Biology, Life Science, Ecology |The Bird Breeding Survey of Taiwan |Taiwan |2019 |- | Target Asteroids! | Planetary astronomy | OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission | Worldwide | 2012 |- | Target NEOs! | Planetary astronomy | The Astronomical League | US | 2012 |- | Taxon expeditions | Biodiversity, Ecology | Taxon Expeditions | Borneo, Montenegro | 2017 |- | Teatime4Science | Botany, Climate change, Ecology, Pedology | The TBI team, Utrecht University | Worldwide | 2016 |- | The Road Lab (Formally Project Splatter) | Ecology, Conservation | Cardiff University | UK | 2013 |- | theSkyNet | Astronomy, Computing | International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research | Worldwide | 2011 |- |TooLoud |Computing, Physics |Community |Bangladesh | |- | Track a Tree | Botany, Ecology, Phenology | University of Edinburgh and the Woodland Trust | UK | 2014 |- | Track My Fish | Fisheries, Ecology, Tagging | Striped Bass Research Team, Acadia University | Canada | 2012 |- | TreeSnap | Forestry, Invasive Species, Botany | University of Kentucky, University of Tennessee | US | 2017 |- | Turtle Survey and Analysis Tools (TurtleSAT) | Herpetology | University of Sydney, University of Western Sydney | Australia | 2014 |- | UBiome | Microbiology | uBiome | US | |- |URwatair |Air Quality, Air Pollution, Hydrology |Elliniki Etairia (Society for the Environment and Cultural Heritage - Thessalonik Branch), in collaboration with (a) Division of Hydraulics and Environmental Engineering (Department of Civil Engineering, School of Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece),

(b) Environmental Informatics Research Group (Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece) |Greece

| | US (VT)

| | US (VT)

| | US

| |Bangladesh

| |- | Wombat Survey and Analysis Tools (WomSAT) | Mammalogy | WomSAT.org.au | Australia

| |Hong Kong

| |Pakistan

| |Taiwan, South Korea |2017

Worldwide

Citizen scientists anywhere in the world can participate in these projects.

Regional

These projects require that citizen scientists be local to a region of study.

Asia

Australasia

Europe

North America

Notes

References

References

1. Mapes, Lynda V.. (February 16, 2013). "Citizen scientists can be climate sleuths too". Seattle Times.
2. Robbins, Jim. (August 19, 2013). "Crowdsourcing, for the birds". The New York Times.
3. "Update: EyeWire". Scientific American.
4. (2017-06-12). "Three new minute leaf litter beetles discovered by citizen scientists in Maliau Basin, Malaysian Borneo (Coleoptera: Leiodidae, Chrysomelidae)". Biodiversity Data Journal.
5. "National Monitoring Network of the National Water Quality Monitoring Council".
6. "TurtleSAT Community Program > Home".
7. "iTech Explorers".
8. "AgeGuess".
9. "old Weather". Zooniverse.
10. (2015-11-07). "Unique project to sequence the genome of the Hong Kong bauhinia tree".
11. "BCST_Home – Bird Conservation Society of Thailand".
12. (17 April 2013). "Citizen Science: Cicada Watch".
13. (17 April 2013). "Space Station Sharper Images of Earth at Night Crowdsourced For Science".
14. [http://communitysnowobs.org/ Community Snow Observations: Citizen Science]
15. [https://eos.org/project-updates/crowdsourcing-snow-depth-data-with-citizen-scientists Crowdsourcing Snow Depth Data with Citizen Scientists]
16. (2018-06-12). "About/CoralWatch".
17. "Can You Help Us Clear The Fossil Air?". Smithsonian.com.
18. [https://sparklingbacteria.com Project 'Hidden World of Bacteria']
19. [https://www.sparklingscience.at/en/ Sparkling Science Program]
20. "More Science: IceWatch USA". Scientific American.
21. CitizenScience.Asia. (2019-04-19). "Using Citizen Science for Community Empowerment and beyond: The Case of Kelab Alami".
22. "8 Apps That Turn Citizens into Scientists". Scientific American.
23. "Kinsey Reporter: Free app allows public to anonymously report, share information on sexual behavior". Science Daily.
24. "Help NASA Build the Largest Open Landslide Catalog with Landslide Reporter {{!}} CitizenScience.gov".
25. O'Hanlon, Larry. (1 May 2013). "Turn Yourself into a Skyglow Meter". Discovery News.
26. Formerly ''The Birdhouse Network'' which only monitored nests in bird boxes and similar artificial cavities. NestWatch is a new project that collects observations of open nests as well.
27. "Butterfly Migration".
28. "Quantum Moves".
29. "More science: Snowtweets". Scientific American.
30. "台灣動物路死觀察網 Taiwan Roadkill Observation Network {{!}} 改善路死、環境教育、全民科學、珍惜生命".
31. "Too Loud".
32. "uBiome".
33. (2020-11-01). "Urbanization and regional air pollution across South Asian developing countries – A nationwide land use regression for ambient PM2.5 assessment in Pakistan". Environmental Pollution.
34. (2017). "An Open Framework for Participatory PM2.5 Monitoring in Smart Cities". IEEE Access.
35. (2022-05-01). "Hubble Asteroid Hunter - I. Identifying asteroid trails in Hubble Space Telescope images". Astronomy & Astrophysics.
36. "香港觀鳥會 Hong Kong Bird Watching Society".
37. "BCST_Home – Bird Conservation Society of Thailand".
38. (2018-10-15). "Citizen Science". UCL Press.
39. "Wild Mentor".
40. (2025-09-25). "RAD@home discovery of extragalactic radio rings and odd radio circles: clues to their origins". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
41. (2015-11-07). "Unique project to sequence the genome of the Hong Kong bauhinia tree".
42. (2017). "An Open Framework for Participatory PM2.5 Monitoring in Smart Cities". IEEE Access.
43. "Clean Air Myanmar {{!}} Air Quality Yangon".
44. (July 2019). "Haze Problem in the North of Thailand and DustBoy PM 2.5 Monitoring Systems". ResearchGate.
45. (2020-11-01). "Urbanization and regional air pollution across South Asian developing countries – A nationwide land use regression for ambient PM2.5 assessment in Pakistan". Environmental Pollution.
46. "HOME {{!}} Hong Kong Jellyfish Project".
47. (2015-11-12). "Citizen Science: The First Peninsular Malaysia Butterfly Count". Biodiversity Data Journal.
48. "RSPB History: From Humble Beginnings to Thriving Today".
49. Thompson, Nicole. (27 Aug 2015). "McMaster crowd-sources archival postcard project". Hamilton Spectator.