Citizen Science
Explore your own backyard and your community to contribute to real scientific research!
Through citizen science, we can all be scientific researchers. We invite everyone—educators and their students, families, friends, individuals, groups—to get involved in innovative, public science. You can help crowdsource data, analyze reports, and contribute to the body of knowledge about important research topics around the world.
As you advance research, you will learn more about your environment, your community, and your world.
Get involved with one or all of our ongoing SDDC supported citizen science projects. Click one of the topics below to jump to that section:
City Nature Challenge
EVERY YEAR, LAST WEEKEND OF APRIL / FIRST WEEKEND OF MAY
The City Nature Challenge is an international event that challenges people to observe nature. Join people from over 500 communities worldwide making observations of wild plants and animals on iNaturalist.
WHAT YOU NEED:
- Device to take pictures. If you are using your phone, be sure to download the iNaturalist app for ease of upload.
- An iNaturalist account. Be sure to include the city or county in which you live, that is how we pull your observations during the City Nature Challenge!
Be sure to follow how our City Nature Challenge is going. You can also see how previous years have gone by checking out the SDDC Pierre/Fort Pierre City Nature Challenge Project Observations on iNaturalist. Our project encompasses the cities of Pierre and Fort Pierre, as well as the grasslands in Hughes, Jones, Lyman, Stanley and Sully Counties.
First Day Hike
EVERY JANUARY FIRST
Join a South Dakota Master Naturalist volunteer every January 1 for our First Day Hike that encourages observation of our winter environment.
iNaturalist Observer
ONGOING
Every observation can contribute to biodiversity science, from the rarest butterfly to the most common backyard weed. iNaturalist shares your findings with scientific data repositories like the Global Biodiversity Information Facility to help scientists find and use your data. All you have to do is observe, and your recordings in central South Dakota will celebrate biodiversity through the SDDC! Join iNaturalist and download the app for your phone to start making observations today!
MacroBlitz
STAY TUNED, OFFICIALLY LAUNCHES IN 2024
MacroBlitz is a developing, internationally-led project funded by the National Geographic Society in support of their land focus to inspire and empower others to better understand and protect our land, lakes, and rivers. The project inspires and trains people to document aquatic macroinvertebrates using iNaturalist.
Journey North’s Robin Watch
ANNUALLY, FEBRUARY 14-MARCH 21
Together with Journey North, we celebrate the coming spring by kicking off Robin Watch on Valentine's Day. Help us by reporting your observations about the robins' arrival and their changing behavior.
South Dakota Volunteer Naturalists
ONGOING
South Dakota Volunteer Naturalists are volunteers dedicated to the well being of the natural world that foster people's connection to nature, the environment and natural areas by providing education, outreach and services in their communities. Master Naturalists complete training that involves a combination of classroom and field instruction and 20 hours of volunteer service; to maintain their Master Naturalist status, they continue training and volunteer for 20 hours every year by contributing to a citizen science project or through education and outreach services.
Get more information at sdvolunteernaturalists.org.
Water Quality Monitoring
ONGOING
The South Dakota water quality monitoring volunteer program is part of the 319 Information and Education outreach project, funded by the US EPA Region 8 through the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Participation in this program requires training with department staff.
Here are a few resources to learn more about South Dakota Water Quality Monitoring and the volunteers that make it possible!
- Program Overview Storymap
- 2023 Training Slides
- SD Integrated Report on Water Quality
- Water Quality Map Access Portal
- Harmful Algal Bloom info
Email annelewis@sd-discovery.org for more information.
More Citizen Science Opportunities!
Below are more projects and organizations that you can get involved in to contribute to citizen science research around the world!
GLOBE
An organization focused on getting schools, educators, and students involved with citizen science, the GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) Program is focused on increasing environmental awareness, contributing to increased scientific understanding of the Earth and supporting improved student achievement in science and mathematics. Contact annelewis@sd-discovery.org for information and support on getting GLOBE Program observations started in your classroom!
GLOBE OBSERVER
GLOBE Observer is the downloadable app that drives GLOBE’s citizen science initiatives. From clouds and land cover to those pesky insects, mosquitoes, collected data tracks changes in our environment in support of Earth system science research.
EARTH ECHO WATER CHALLENGE
A great project for kids and families, the EarthEcho Water Challenge (formerly World Water Monitoring Challenge) is an international program that runs annually from March 22 (the United Nations World Water Day) through December and equips anyone to protect the water resources we depend on every day. Get your own water monitoring kit by contacting annelewis@sd-discovery.org.
JOURNEY NORTH MONARCH MIGRATION
Journey North is devoted to gathering migratory data on LOTS of species, be sure to check out all of their citizen science options. The Monarch Migration is a great way to kick off your fall.
MARINE DEBRIS TRACKER
Debris Tracker crowdsources data on plastic pollution in your community. The organization has tracked litter since before smartphones existed, and you don’t need to be near an ocean to impact research on pollution!
TEMPO OZONE GARDEN
NASA's Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring Pollution (TEMPO) mission uses a satellite flying about 22,000 miles above the Earth's equator to measure air pollutants hourly across North America.
- Check out our own Ozone Bioindicator Garden, one of the SDDC Exhibit Hall’s outdoor displays, which helps contribute to data on local air quality in Pierre!
COCORAHS
The Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network collects precipitation information.
- Have you seen the rain gauges outside of our building in Pierre? We support the South Dakota arm of this project by providing rain gauge data every time there is precipitation!
GREAT BACKYARD BIRD COUNT
The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) is an annual citizen-science project for both novice bird watchers and lifelong bird enthusiasts. With collected data, scientists create a real-time snapshot of the locations of birds around the world.
Want more citizen science? Visit scistarter.org and complete their training to find additional citizen science projects!