News - University of Arkansas
Everyone Can be a Scientist! Recent Smithsonian Article Highlights Citizen Science and GLOBE Observer
Can your input help solve big problems in science? A recent article in Smithsonian Magazine, “Will the Next Great Scientific Discover Be Made By Amateurs?” reports that the answer to that question is yes!
In the article, Kristin Weaver, an outreach specialist at NASA and the deputy coordinator of GLOBE Observer, said that what’s great about citizen science is that it brings a direct, concrete connection to people. “Everyone can be a scientist, and I think that making that connection between people doing citizen science and the NASA science is just exciting.”
Click here to read the entire article.
GLOBE Observer is an international citizen science initiative designed to help us understand our global environment. Observations from citizen scientists help professional scientists track changes in clouds, water, plants, and other life in support of climate research. Scientists also use this data to verify NASA satellite data.
The GLOBE Observer Program currently accepts observations of Clouds and Mosquito Habitats, with planned expansion to other types of data in the future. The cloud observations help NASA scientists understand clouds from below (the ground) and above (from space). Clouds play an important role in transferring energy from the Sun to different parts of the Earth system. Since clouds can change rapidly, scientists need frequent observations from citizen scientists.
You can join this scientific adventure today by simply downloading the GLOBE Observer App and using it to immediately observe the environment where you are! The GLOBE Observer is part of The GLOBE Program, so when you submit your observations, you will be helping GLOBE students around the world conduct real scientific research.
type: globe-newsNews origin: GLOBE Implementation Office