Citizen science from your living room

Helix

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The Guardian published this other thing of mine about taking part in citizen science (and history) while in isolation. So I thought it might be good to have a thread of online opportunities while in lockdown.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeand...ditions-the-addictive-joy-of-dunnart-spotting

This piece is aimed at an Oz audience, so the links are to local projects. But Digivol also hosts projects from the museums and botanical gardens in the USA, UK and South Africa. You can check out the list here: https://volunteer.ala.org.au/project/list

If you have any local examples, please add them here. There must be hundreds of opportunities worldwide, and we've still got a way to go before we're completely out of isolation.
 
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mccardey

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Another great article, Helix. I do love it when your stuff pops up in my morning newspaper :) Congratulations.
 

MaeZe

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Here's another citizen science project, this one involving beluga whales. Might be tricky given not much progress has been made yet.

Beluga Bits
Examine underwater photos of wild beluga whales and help us identify the age, sex, and group size. We also need keen eye to look for identifying marks to recognize beluga that return to this location year after year.

About the research
So much we don't know
Hudson Bay is home to more than 50 thousand beluga during the summer! Along the western side of the bay, there are 3 major river estuaries where beluga gather in the thousands. They have spent the winter in waters that are covered in ice and are hundreds of kilometres to the north. When the sea ice melts in the spring each year beluga travel to estuaries but it is not fully clear what benefits they gain in these areas. The estuaries may provide a safe refuge from killer whales, they may provide warmer water to help molt their skin, or it may be a combination of these and other factors. One thing we do know is that in the Churchill River Estuary beluga whales are close enough to peek into their underwater world and ask questions about beluga social structure, interactions with small boats, and their natural history.
Lots more on the page.
 
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