We at the Science Math Resource Center are fans of citizen science and are working to build a Citizen Science Network. We will be sending this occasional e-newsletter to share news and information about citizen science events and opportunities at MSU, in Montana and across the country. If you have an item to share, an idea for building the network, or a question, please contact the MSU Science Math Resource Center.
Tribal college library partnership wraps up
Our Citizen Science, Civics and Community Resilience partnership project supported by NOAA and the Museum of Science-Boston wrapped up in Fall 2021. The goal of the project was to engage the public in active learning and resilience planning around heat waves, sea level rise, extreme precipitation, and drought.
The program began in June 2021 when we presented to the Tribal College Librarians Institute, a global professional development opportunity hosted by Mary Anne Hansen and the MSU Library. We shared information with attendees -- who are librarians at tribal college libraries throughout the world -- about the fundamentals of citizen science. We also encouraged them to attend one of the national forums on extreme weather events hosted by the MOS-Boston.
Back in Montana, we created and disseminated kits and citizen science books to three libraries that serve tribal communities: Stone Child College Library (Rocky Boy Reservation); James E. Shanley Tribal Library (Fort Peck Reservation); and Harlem Public Library (serving the nearby Fort Belknap Reservation), where the photo at left was taken. The students are completing the Crowd the Tap project, which helps ensure safe drinking water in the U.S.
CitSci partnership featured in Friends of the MSU Library magazine
Our April 2021 Citizen Science Month partnership was featured in the Fall MSU Friends of the Library magazine. The project of Science Math Resource Center and the People-Places-Water Lab (Dr. Sarah Church) included disseminating free citizen science kits to patrons from campus and the community.
Citizen science in the news: "Game within a game" inserts citizen science into video game adventure
A first-person role-playing video game set on the planet Pandora has advanced the boundaries of citizen science by including a "game within a game" in its fictional world. Players of Borderlands 3 who enter their spaceship's infirmary may stumble across an arcade game in one corner. But the block puzzle game encased in a retro console is more than just entertainment....players are actually mapping gene sequences for the American Gut Project. As of Fall 2020, the Borderlands 3 embedded game had amassed nearly triple the number of completed puzzles as the original stand-alone puzzle game. It was even written up in Nature! Read more....
Do you have your Foundations of Citizen Science badge yet?
Learn citizen science basics, participate in projects, and make the most of SciStarter in this self-guided, free training module. Plus, you'll earn a citizen science badge! Presented by SciStarter with support from the National Library of Medicine.
Earn a SciStarter Explorer Certificate
You have until Dec. 31, 2021 to earn a special SciStarter Explorer certificate when you participate in any three projects on the SciStarter affiliates page. Share it on social media (tag @SciStarter), or display it at home, in the office, or in the classroom to encourage others to become Explorers, too!
Citizen Science Holiday Gift Guide
Stumped for ideas for that inquisitive person your life? Or perhaps you’re hoping for a few citizen science-inspired gifts yourself this year? SciStarter’s Gift Guide suggests useful gifts for birdwatchers, skygazers and weather-trackers, and they all tie in with one or more citizen science projects on SciStarter. Check it out!
April 2022 will be here soon! Stay tuned for information on how you can be involved in Citizen Science Month at MSU and in Montana
This newsletter is brought to you by the MSU Science Math Resource Center with support from the NASA AEROKATS and ROVER Education Network (AREN) and Montana NSF EPSCoR
