Zooniverse is a large global platform where volunteers can assist many different professional researchers. All projects can be accessed via the internet, making it easy to participate regardless of where you are in the world. Contributors study authentic objects, like videos of animals in natural habitats or specimens from museum collections.

Students love participating in Zooniverse projects because they’re easy to use and they provide windows into ecosystems and institutions far from home. Kids can count penguins in Argentina or lions in Mozambique by viewing images from camera traps, or they can inspect and transcribe handwritten museum labels from long ago. And the Zooniverse discussion boards allow volunteers to work together and interact with researchers. Zooniverse projects have produced hundreds of published research papers and open source data sets. In addition, there are some great educational resources that enhance Zooniverse.

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Citizen and community science is scientific research conducted, in whole or in part, by nonprofessional scientists. Citizen and community science is sometimes described as public participation in scientific research, participatory monitoring, or participatory action research. Its outcomes are often advancements in scientific research, as well as an increase in the public's understanding of science. Four common features of citizen and community science practice are: (a) anyone can participate, (b) participants use the same protocols so that data can be combined and is of high quality, (c) data can help real scientists come to real conclusions, and (d) a wide community of scientists and volunteers work together and share data to which the public, as well as scientists, have access. View more resources in the Citizen and Community Science PRO Picks collection >