advances in technology have changed how science is conducted . through the internet and smart phones , we now have access to a great deal of information that , in the past , would have been inaccessible or would have taken a very long time and great effort to share worldwide .
we use the internet to search for information , to purchase products and reagents , to find employment opportunities , to seek training through webinars and online classes , as well as to socialize and keep up to date with family and friends .
this highly accessible communication has also opened new avenues for collaboration among scientists across the globe , and research teams have expanded as a result . in addition , this unprecedented access to information has broadened citizen science opportunities , as well as public participation in scientific research ( ppsr ) . here , we discuss citizen science , what it is , who does it , and the variety of projects and methods that are used to increase scientific knowledge .
citizen science is defined as public participation in scientific research projects , usually by volunteers who collaborate with scientists and researchers to increase scientific knowledge ( 1 , 13 ) .
they may be children who are exposed to science through school projects , high school students who participate in science clubs , amateur scientists with little formal training , community groups organized around a science interest , educators , or naturalists .
the earliest examples of citizen science were networks of local interest groups , such as birders who tracked local populations of birds , allowing migratory bird patterns to be established . in january 2016 , the 116 year of the audubon society s christmas bird count concluded  the longest running citizen - science project in the united states ( www.audubon.org/conservation/science/christmas-bird-count . in this case , volunteers are grouped with at least one professional bird watcher per group to conduct the bird counts , which are done annually .
along with the audubon society , the cornell lab of ornithology also hosts a citizen - science website , ebird ( http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ ) , where bird watchers can record the presence or absence of species in their region ( 14 ) .
this site is used to compile data from annual events such as the great backyard bird count ( gbbc ) , which occurs in february .
the cornell lab of ornithology used the data from ebird to develop a smart phone app called merlin bird i d to aid bird counters in identifying birds in their region .
in addition to this site , they also host nestwatch ( http://nestwatch.org/ ) , which provides online training to become a certified nest watch monitor , allowing the public to find nests , monitor them , and collect data and then report the data online to help track successes and failures of nesting birds .
there are now a number of citizen - science projects that include wildlife - monitoring programs , where individuals share photos and observations of species in a particular area and share these online .
there are a number of beneficial aspects to citizen - science projects : they showcase the scientific process and highlight the fact that science is all around us ; they allow for large amounts of data collection around the world that would be very expensive to generate without the use of volunteers ; they also can advance projects more rapidly due to the large number of people that are involved . through these endeavors ,
sometimes citizen - science projects are designed to allow people to report when a specific event has occurred in their region .
for example , honey bees that have been parasitized by the zombie fly , apocephalus borealis , embark on a flight of the living dead .
infected bees abandon their hives and display disoriented zombie - like behavior , including congregating near lights at night , before dying ( 5 ) .
infected bees , called zombees , found in your area can be reported through the zombee project ( www.zombeewatch.org/ ) ; these bees are then tested to confirm whether or not they are infected . in a similar manner , as part of the wildlife health monitoring network , a website called the wildlife health event reporter ( www.whmn.org/wher/ ) was established to allow members of the public to report dead or sick wild animals in their area .
monitoring these events can help detect new emerging diseases and other problems that could affect wildlife , domestic animals , and human populations .
this can be very expensive , depending on the number of sites , and often the majority of the cost is for travel to the site where the sample will be collected .
citizen - science projects can allow for samples to be taken from a large geographic area in a short amount of time .
one example of this type of project is project merccuri ( http://spacemicrobes.org/ ) , which aims to examine the bacterial diversity of microbes on earth and on the international space station .
thousands of citizen scientists were involved in collecting bacterial samples from sports events and sites of historical interest , such as the liberty bell . from these samples ,
a team of scientists selected 48 types of microbes to investigate , and these were sent to the international space station ( iss ) to better understand how microbes grow in zero gravity .
one goal of this project was to engage the public and get people interested in experiments both on the iss and in microbiology , with the hope of encouraging more people to get involved in significant science .
other projects , intended to characterize human microbes by sequencing the microbial genomes from mouth , skin , or fecal samples , are ongoing ( http://ubiome.com/pages/buynow , https://fundrazr.com/campaigns/4tqx5 ) . in these projects , samples are processed and the data provided to participants for a small fee .
these data are also used collectively for a larger study , where they will be analyzed to identify the bacteria species that reside in the gut .
another project involving sample collection requires that citizen scientists send a sample of dirt to scientists who are interested in discovering novel fungi that perhaps can be used for medicinal purposes ( http://npdg.ou.edu/citizenscience ) .
the microorganisms in the samples of dirt will be tested to determine whether they possess natural products that can be used for medicinal purposes .
the world water monitoring project ( www.monitorwater.org/default.aspx ) , requiring sampling of local bodies of water , is an outreach effort to engage citizens in monitoring their local water quality with a goal of increasing awareness of human activities and their effects on local water resources .
some scientific research projects generate a large amount of data over relatively short time intervals .
for example , projects that involve using video cameras to record animals in their natural environment , or projects where thousands of dna sequences have been acquired and need to be analyzed .
tools are needed for data analysis , and one way to accomplish this is through the use of computer games that motivate participants to play , resulting in high - quality scientific data analysis .
a group of tools , citizen sort ( http://citizensort.org/ ) , allows the public to participate in classifying images as part of several video games that were developed specifically for this purpose .
another group , which has collected thousands of hours of deep sea videos , has developed a game called digital fishers ( www.oceannetworks.ca/learning/citizen-science/digital-fishers ) , where participants view video clips and identify ocean animals they see during the course of a 60-second video .
in addition to these citizen - science games , a game called phylo ( http://phylo.cs.mcgill.ca/ ) has been developed to analyze genetic sequences ( 11 ) . in the game , players align genetic sequences in a similar manner to the game tetris , where building blocks of similar features are aligned .
the results of this puzzle game contribute to genetic disease research by helping to identify where sequences align well from patients with particular genetic diseases and where they do not . a puzzle game called fold it ( http://fold.it/portal/info/science ) has also been developed , in this case to predict how proteins fold ( 3 , 4 ) . since the structure of proteins is key to understanding how they function , this game , by allowing players to evaluate the possible ways that a protein can fold , contributes to the development of novel proteins that could be useful in preventing or curing disease . a game called eyewire ( www.eyewire.org ) has also been developed in the field of neuroscience . in this game ,
players are identifying specific cell types within the known classes of retinal cells to map the connections between neurons in the retina , which will help to determine how vision works ( 10 , 12 ) . in the online gaming environment
, eyewire holds regular competitions and challenges that allow players to compete for bonuses , profile icons , and even neuron naming rights .
when converted into a game , data analysis is more fun , and , in the interest of advancing one s character and leveling up , players are motivated to continue to solve challenges .
gaming citizen - science projects have resulted in scientific publications in high - level peer reviewed journals that included foldit players or eyewire players in the author lists ( 4 , 710 ) .
this highlights the contribution and significant role that citizen science plays in these scientific research projects .
the learning outcomes associated with ppsr projects generally fall into three main categories : outcomes for research such as scientific findings , outcomes for individual participants in which new knowledge and skills are developed , and outcomes for social - ecological systems that may influence policies , build capacity in the community for decision making , or result in conservation action ( 1 , 13 ) .
an online resource called scistarter ( http://scistarter.com ) is a database of current and ongoing citizen - science projects where individuals , teachers , and scientists can search current citizen - science projects in which to participate .
these projects have a high level of individual participation , the quality of participation is high , and , in the process of participating in these projects , a scientifically literate society is being developed .
one example of such a project is nasa s soil moisture active passive ( smap ) satellite mission .
the data collected will be used to improve weather forecasts ; detail water , energy , and carbon cycles ; monitor droughts ; predict floods ; and assist with crop productivity .
participants across the world are collecting and measuring soil samples in real time as the satellite is overhead to help calibrate the accuracy of nasa s satellite mission and to learn more about soil quality in the process .
participants log onto a website to determine when the satellite will be directly overhead at their location so that they can collect soil samples at that time .
next , participants determine the moisture content from their soil samples and upload their data to the globe.gov database .
globe provides the ability to view data measured across the world and interact with other participants . during the process of collecting data and determining the soil moisture content , participants are validating satellite data for nasa and learning more about the goals of the scientific research . using technology , through the website and mobile apps
, participants can interact with others involved in the project , evaluate their data , and become part of a collaborative group .
this is just one example of a citizen - science project in which public participation in science results in increasing science literacy .
students participating in these types of projects also may use these activities for science fair opportunities , where they present data and practice scientific communication of their results . through this one citizen - science project , all three learning objectives , generation of scientific findings , individual acquisition of new knowledge and skills , and interest in social - ecological systems ,
citizen - science projects enable extensive data collection worldwide . they contribute to sample collection over a wide geographic area without the high cost and time commitment required for scientists to travel to each individual site . more recently
, after collecting large amounts of data , games have been developed to encourage citizen science and greatly increase the number of people involved .
citizen participation in these games helps to speed the pace of data analysis and allows science to advance more rapidly .
smart phone apps have been developed to support citizen - science projects , as well as websites for uploading data and communicating with others working on these projects .
due to the numerous advantages that come with citizen - science projects , these opportunities are likely to continue to expand in the future and increase the rate of novel discoveries .
 the internet and smart phone technologies have opened up new avenues for collaboration among scientists around the world . these technologies have also expanded citizen science opportunities and public participation in scientific research ( ppsr ) . here 
 we discuss citizen science , what it is , who does it , and the variety of projects and methods used to increase scientific knowledge and scientific literacy . 
 we describe a number of different types of citizen - science projects . 
 these greatly increase the number of people involved , helping to speed the pace of data analysis and allowing science to advance more rapidly . as a result of the numerous advantages of citizen - science projects , 
 these opportunities are likely to expand in the future and increase the rate of novel discoveries . 
INTRODUCTION
CITIZEN SCIENCE
CONCLUSION