This post was originally published on Citizen Science Buzz, a blog on TalkingScience that highlights science projects that are helping us better understand our planet and the Universe.

During the day, a firefly looks more like an ordinary beetle than a flashing light (Photo courtesy of Don Salvatore, Firefly Watch, MOS)

Ever seen little points of light buzzing around outside on summer nights? Those lights – fireflies – are beetles that create light through a chemical reaction.  By controlling the reaction, fireflies can turn on and off their lights. They flash light to communicate and find a mate.

Fireflies may be disappearing from some areas where they have been found in the past, so researchers are looking to citizen scientists for help understanding more about what is affecting fireflies.

Changes in the way we use land might be taking a toll on fireflies. For example, as natural landscapes are turned into lawns, fertilizers, pesticides and mowers may jeopardize fireflies, which spend daytime hours on the ground. Fireflies might also be affected by outdoor lights such as streetlights and the amount of water in the environment.

The Firefly Watch project gets the public involved collecting data about where fireflies are found. If you live east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and have ten minutes a week to look for fireflies in the evening, consider signing up as a volunteer.

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A Common Blue Morpho butterfly lands on a young visitor at the Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House. (Photo: Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House)

Next week is National Pollinator Week!

Pollinators, like bees, birds, and butterflies, play an important role in all of our lives. They aid in flowering plant reproduction, help ensure the health of national forests and grasslands, and work together with famers and ranchers in the production of fruits and vegetables. National Pollinator Week is a yearly effort to build more awareness about the need to maintain a healthy pollinator population.

Today, we’re highlighting one of the many National Pollinator Week events taking place all over the nation: the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Pollinator-Palooza.

To celebrate National Pollinator Week, the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Sophia M Sachs Butterfly House is connecting people with pollinators in a whole new way. On Father’s Day, families in the Greater St Louis Area and beyond are invited to join games and crafts (designed for kids ages 2-11), observe bee hives, and ask a trained entomologist about pollination or the pollinators themselves.

I had a chance to chat with Laura Chisholm, a program specialist and entomologist at the Sophia M Sachs Butterfly House, about what we can expect at this weekend’s Pollinator Palooza. Laura knows her bugs! She runs the Pollinator-Palooza event and Bug Hunt which occur during the June and July. She also assists with other special events throughout the year, including October Owls and Orchids, March Morpho Mania, Booterflies, and Hot! Hot! Hot!

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A female monarch butterfly shows off her colors. Photo: Kenneth Dwain Harrelson.

As a child growing up in New Hampshire, I remember going with my mother to collect Monarch chrysalises for my science classes. We’d park off a nearby roadway, spy a patch of milkweed, and poke around until we found a chrysalis or two. During the next week or so, my classmates and I watched spellbound at the transformation from chrysalis to butterfly. Science truly came alive!

Well, it’s that time of year again. After spending the winter sunning in Mexico or southern California, adult Monarch butterflies migrate north (as far as Canada!) during the spring to lay their eggs.

Researchers with the Monarch Larva Monitoring Project need your help keeping an eye on these critters during all stages of development from now through September!

Since Monarch larvae feed only on milkweed, accessible, abundant milkweed is critically important for the survival of this butterfly species. The Monarch Larva Monitoring Project needs your help to keep an eye on local patches of milkweed, and to count monarch eggs and larvae, and assess milkweed density. Whether you have time to send in observations once a week, or anecdotally as you come across Monarchs, they want your data! Sign up online, and send in your sightings today!

To ensure that citizen scientists collect data in a standardized way, periodic training sessions are held. Looks like there are some coming up in later in May!

For science teachers who would like to incorporate ecology into their classroom, check out the Monarchs in the Classroom summer workshops.

For those of you who are impatient, check out this time-lapse video of the process, first from caterpillar to chrysalis and then from chrysalis to butterfly.

Looking for more citizen science opportunities? Sign up for the Science for Citizens newsletter!

Today is Earth Day, a perfect excuse to get out and help the planet!

Researchers need YOUR help tracking the presence of American robins, so they can compare your observations with other environmental data, including climate and weather changes.  American robins are arriving in the Colorado Rockies 14 days earlier than they did 30 years ago and have been spotted in parts of Alaska for the first time. Because robins consume a wide variety of foods, an increase or decrease in their population may indicate (or impact) changes in other animal and plant species. It’s time for you to get involved and help the planet!

All you have to do:

1. Spot a robin
2. Record the date and location
3. Take note of its activity (what is it doing? what is it eating? is it near other birds?)
4. Share your results

This project is part the Changing Planet series, presented by the National Science Foundation, NBC News, Discover Magazine, Science For Citizens and Planet Forward. Changing Planet” is a series of three televised Town Hall meetings, hosted by Tom Brokaw of NBC News, on what climate change means. The first event, held at Yale, airs on the Weather Channel tonight at 8pm ET. We’ll also post the video here on Monday, April 25.

Here are four other awesome projects to start on Earth Day:

	Earth Day Photo and Essay Contest: Celebrate Earth Day with middle school students (grades 5-8) across the country by taking a photograph of something changing in your local environment. Then, research and write an essay about the photograph. The Institute for Global Environmental Strategies will award a variety of prizes, including a digital camera, digital photo frame and digital photo keychain, and more. Send in your pictures by April 29, 2011!
	Sound Around You: Help researchers build a sound map of the world as part of a study into how sounds in our everyday environment make us feel. Just use your mobile phone (or other recording device) to record 10 to 15 second clips from different sound environments, or “soundscapes” – anything from the inside of a family car to a busy shopping center. Then, upload the clips to a virtual map!
	Cloned Plants Project: Plant a lilac and contribute to a phenology monitoring project over 50 years in existence! Participants plant a lilac clone and record observations of recurring life cycle stages such as leafing and flowering on the USA National Phenology Network webpage. Observations of cloned plants help predict crop yields and bloom dates of other species, control insects and disease, and assist with monitoring the impact of global climate change.
	BeeSpotter: Get out there with your camera and capture some good pictures of bees! Researchers need your help better understand bee demographics in the state of Illinois. You’ll help BeeSpotter researchers establish a baseline for monitoring bee population declines and learn about bees in the process.

Looking for more citizen science opportunities? Sign up for the Science for Citizens newsletter!

This is National Invasive Species Awareness Week!

Invasive species represent a significant threat to native plants, animals, and humans. They cause enormous disruptions in the natural ecological balance, inducing erosion, crowding out food sources, and reducing biodiversity. Invasive species are also a significant drain on the national economy.

If you’re in the Washington, D.C. area today through March 4, you can register for a week full of free activities, briefings, and events to highlight what is being done around the world to stop and slow the spread of invasive species. You can also follow the action on Facebook.

Not in the DC area? Thanks to citizen science, there are still plenty of ways to play an active role in National Invasive Species Awareness Week. Here are some easy and fun citizen science projects that you can do:

What’s Invasive: use a mobile phone to locate invasive plants in locations across the US or create your own list of plants that you want help in locating.

University of Florida Cuban Treefrog Citizen Science Project: capture and remove invasive treefrogs around your homes, collect and submit data on these frogs, and monitor for native treefrogs.

Global Garlic Mustard Field Survey: help scientists gather data on the abundance and distribution of an invasive plant called “garlic mustard” (scientific name: Alliaria petiolata).

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The Science for Citizens Project Finder is filled with hundreds of citizen science projects, and it’s growing larger every day thanks to submissions by project coordinators, volunteers, and other members of the Science for Citizens community.

I’m highlighting a trio of recently added citizen science projects  to introduce you to a few new ways to satisfy your citizen science cravings:

California Roadkill Observation System
In this project, citizen scientists report roadkill by entering observations in an easy-to-use online form. Roadkill data can be analyzed by observers and will be used to understand where roadkill occurs and the severity of the impact to wildlife species. The project aims to  provide a safer environment for wildlife in relationship with California motorways.

Colorado Spider Survey

I usually run/scream like a child when I see a spider. Turns out, the Colorado Spider Survey needs people to collect spiders from throughout the state to help researchers determine what species of spiders are found in every ecosystem in Colorado. Data from these specimens and from Colorado specimens housed at other collections throughout the country will be compiled and published in an electronic database.

Juturna
Juturna is a Toronto-based project that supports the collection, analysis, data sharing, and reporting of community collected water quality data. Researchers at York University, the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority and the civil society organization EcoSpark use data contributed by volunteers to to monitor environmental conditions of local watersheds.

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Below, I’ve listed the top 5 Science For Citizens member blog posts according to the number of visits received. It’s easy to start your very own Sci4Ctis member blog. Start sharing your adventures with other citizen scientists!

5. Rent a Remote-Controlled Telescope! From Michael
It’s pretty hard to be an amateur astronomer without your own telescope–or is it? Michael blogs about the Global Rent-a-Scope network, which lets would-be star gazers rent time on various “robotic telescopes” around the world. As a member, you can control these telescopes from the comfort of your home via the Internet and download images of the planets, stars, and galaxies you observe.

4. Collecting Data, Revising Hypothesis From Don
Data collected by citizen science groups can often provide the information scientists need to answer a question. However, just as often, the data provides the scientist with information the scientist wasn’t expecting, causing a rethinking of their hypothesis. This happened recently with the data collected by volunteers of the Firefly Watch Citizen Science Project.

3. Calling Worm Rangers! From GLWW

The Great Lakes Worm Watch’s 3rd Annual “Big Worm Week” was a free opportunity for all ages, youth to adult, to raise awareness and understanding of exotic earthworms. Participants learned how to conduct earthworm surveys and contribute to this growing citizen science effort. This was an important event because there is very little data collected on invasive earthworm species in the Great Lakes region.

2.The New Rugged Individualism From reinventor32

What is “open education”? Bennett describes it as the conscious and willful act of spreading knowledge and experience to others, helping others (especially younger people) to gain an appreciation and love for learning, and a desire to partner with and help educators especially in subjects relating to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Read more to find out what happens when we connect enthusiasm to the scientific process.

1. National Geographic Kids – November 2010 From Charlotte
Our most popular member blog post of 2010 belongs to Charlotte, who blogged about her favorite articles from the November edition of National Geographic Kids. Thanks Charlotte, and we look forward to more blog posts from you in the future!

Jug Bay exhibitors, Pete and Kim, sort and identify macroinvertebrates.

The USA Science and Engineering Festival Expo is just two days away, and Science for Citizens is excited to be partnering with several fantastic citizen science organizations for our exhibit.

Today, I’d like to introduce you to Lindsay from Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary, an estuarine site in the state of Maryland about 20 miles east of Washington, D.C.

Jug Bay leads citizen science research on macroinvertebrates–small, bottom-dwelling animals without backbones that can reveal a great deal about the health of their watery environment.

Make sure to visit Section PA-13, Booth Numbers 1229 and 1231, on Pennsylvania Ave NW, to learn how you can conduct real scientific research on these tiny creatures.

Take it away, Lindsay!

Lindsay, tell us what you do at Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary.

I’m Lindsay Hollister, Naturalist and Volunteer Coordinator, and I help with research projects, stewardship, and outdoor education.

What project will you be showcasing at the festival?

Macroinvertebrate Monitoring–using stream insects and other aquatic invertebrates to determine stream health.

Benthic macroinvertebrates: These small, bottom-dwelling animals without backbones can reveal much about the health of their watery environment.

What can people expect at the Science for Citizens booth?

We will have a display of live and preserved specimens of what we find during our sampling. Participants can search through bins looking for live macroinvertebrates and practice identification too. We’ll show the field equipment we use as well.

What is your favorite part about working in citizen science?

The creativity. Our volunteers participate because they want to give back and they love science. They are always happy to be here, and they even devise their own investigations and projects sometimes!

A bee being watched by the Texas Bee Watchers project. (Photo by Kim Bacon)

The mysterious widespread deaths of honey bees over the last four years has been a great worry, both to backyard gardeners and large agricultural companies. That’s why it was such welcome news last week when Army scientists in Maryland and bee experts in Montana reported they had discovered a likely cause: a fatal combination of a virus and a fungus. (You can read their research report here in the PLoS ONE online journal.)

Unfortunately, it will probably be some time before this new clue translates into a practical solution to the problem. Meanwhile, the bees continue to die. According to the New York Times, “collapsed” colonies were reported in Florida and California earlier this year, and some experts worry that the general trend now could be as bad as during the first days of the decline.

As the Times’s Kirk Johnson wrote over the weekend, this “leaves a swarm of questions about where bees, and people, go from here.” Johnson’s article is a useful recap and status report on the crisis. If you’re concerned or curious about such issues as the level of damage, the role of climate change, and the danger posed to our food supply, I recommend you read his swarm of answers.

And if you’re wondering how you can help, consider joining one of the citizen science projects below, all of which enlist volunteers to study bees.

• The Great Sunflower Project
• Bee Hunt
• Black Hills Bee Project
• Texas Bee Watchers

World-travelers may spot the spectacular yellow-winged darter, found in Europe and northern China. Photo: André Karwath (via Wikipedia)

While dragonflies and damselflies might belong to the same scientific class as the common housefly, the gossamer-winged zoomers seem a world apart from their less-enchanting six-legged cousins. Sitting outdoors in the San Juan Islands last weekend, I had a chance to observe a few blue dragonflies up close as they swooped in to check out our picnic.

Scientists all across the country are keeping an eye on these dazzling creatures as well, and they need your help to figure out where dragonflies range. In particular, the dragonfly hunters at Odonata Central are compiling a database of dragonflies and damselflies across the world. An interactive map lets you see what varieties of dragonflies have been reported in your neck of the woods. (Note: I found that this map worked well with my Safari browser, but not with Firefox.) Anyone with a digital camera and internet connection can register and then send in sightings of dragonflies to add to the database. Need help identifying what species you saw? The Odonata Central page has many photographs, as does the United States Geological Survey.

Many individual states have local monitoring groups as well. For example, those of you in the Chicago area can sign up to participate in the Dragonfly Monitoring Network. These scientists ask a commitment of attending one workshop in the spring, and then ask participants to send in reports of dragonfly sightings along specific routes. Other local dragonfly monitoring groups are found in New Hampshire and Ohio and many other states.

Coming up soon, dragonfly fanatics in New Mexico can join the Friends of Bitter Lake at their annual Dragonfly Festival from September 10 to 12 in Roswell, New Mexico. If you’re not in the area, head on out with your camera and try to capture some local dragonflies on film!