Citizen Science: How Your Hikes, Backyard Observations and Cleanups Power Real Research

Did you know you can contribute to scientific discovery without a graduate degree? All you need is curiosity, a smartphone, and a willingness to observe. Citizen science harnesses everyday outdoor activity—photographing plants and animals, logging sightings, monitoring calls, or cataloging litter—to generate data researchers need to understand and protect ecosystems.

Why your observations matter

Ecosystems are changing rapidly from climate shifts, urban growth, and habitat loss. Professionals can’t be everywhere at once, so thousands of volunteers provide the “eyes on the ground.” Even common, local observations add up to powerful datasets that reveal species movements, population trends, and emerging threats.

iNaturalist: millions of geotagged photos

Platforms like iNaturalist give scientists access to millions of photos tied to locations and dates. Those records help map species ranges, flag rare sightings, and detect invasives—examples include documentation of a jaguarundi range contraction and the first North American record of the invasive elm zigzag sawfly, which prompted rapid response from authorities.

eBird: turning birdwatching into global monitoring

Birds are sensitive indicators of environmental change: North America has lost nearly 3 billion birds since 1970. eBird—run by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology—channels birdwatchers’ sightings into one of the world’s largest biodiversity databases. eBird data has informed conservation policy and helped trace long migrations such as the Red Knot’s 20,000-mile journeys, supporting its protection as a threatened subspecies.

Nature's Notebook and tracking seasonal change

The USA National Phenology Network (USA-NPN) runs Nature's Notebook, where volunteers log phenological events—first blooms, leaf-out, migration arrivals. These records feed climate models, invasive-species forecasts, and management decisions; agencies like the EPA and National Park Service use the spring indices to guide actions such as invasive buffelgrass control at Saguaro National Park and timing interventions against pests like the hemlock woolly adelgid.

FrogWatch USA: listening for amphibian declines

Amphibians are among the most vulnerable groups on Earth. FrogWatch USA trains volunteers to recognize and record frog and toad calls at wetlands. Acoustic surveys reveal population trends, detect invasive species, and inform wetland management—often without the volunteer ever seeing the animal.

Marine Debris Tracker: make cleanups count

Trash tracked at the point of collection becomes scientific data. The Marine Debris Tracker app lets volunteers log items picked up on sidewalks, trails, and shorelines. Aggregated records reveal how litter moves, measure policy impacts, and help target prevention efforts—community efforts on rivers like the Ganges have shown how local factors shape litter types.

Report the unexpected

Unusual observations—a species out of range, an animal behaving oddly, or signs of disease—can be early warning signs. Uploading photos, videos, and notes to iNaturalist or similar platforms allows scientists to monitor and respond faster to invasive species, disease outbreaks, or habitat degradation.

Mountain Legacy Project: historic photos as benchmarks

Historic survey photographs paired with modern images create compelling visual records of change. The Mountain Legacy Project invites people to retake century-old views to document glacier retreat, shifting treelines, and fire effects. Repeated photos of the Kaskawulsh Glacier, for example, showed a retreat that altered river flow.

Bumble Bee Watch: backyard pollinator monitoring

Backyards matter to pollinators. Bumble Bee Watch encourages people to photograph bumble bees for expert verification and inclusion in continental databases. These records help identify remnant populations, guide habitat restoration, and support conservation assessments.

Zooniverse: help analyze big datasets

Many projects produce more images and audio than researchers can review. Zooniverse invites volunteers to classify trail-cam photos, tag penguins, or identify animals in remote ecosystems. These small, remote-friendly tasks add up to major contributions to research and conservation.

Join a bioblitz or find a project

A great way to start is a bioblitz: an event where volunteers and experts catalog as many species as possible in a defined area over one day. Tools like iNaturalist and platforms such as SciStarter connect you to bioblitzes and dozens of other projects—everything from counting clouds to monitoring microbes—many of which welcome beginners.

How to get started

Pick an app or project that matches your interests, learn a few simple protocols, and add your observations. Whether you’re snapping a photo on a hike, listening for frog calls at dusk, or logging litter from a cleanup, your contributions help scientists detect trends, guide policy, and protect the places you love.

Ready to help? Try iNaturalist or eBird on your next outing, sign up for a FrogWatch or Bumble Bee Watch survey, or explore SciStarter for local opportunities—small actions, big impact.