Steve Haddock from JellyWatch will be joining the Science for Citizens exhibit at the USA Science and Engineering Festival. (Photo: John Lee Pictures)

There’s only one more day until this weekend’s USA Science and Engineering Festival Expo in Washington, DC!

The Science for Citizens team has been hard at work putting together an engaging, interesting, and fun exhibit featuring some terrific citizen science projects. Remember, we’ll be at Section PA-13, Booth Numbers 1229 and 1231, on Pennsylvania Ave NW from 10 am-5:30 pm on Saturday and Sunday. Stop by to meet the entire Science for Citizens team and our collaborating partners.

All this week, we’ve been featuring short Q&As with our collaborators to give you an idea of what you can do at the Science for Citizens exhibit. So far, we’ve covered coyote tracking with Anne from Earthwatch, bird research with Mary from Cornell’s Lab of Ornithology, and macroinvertebrate sampling with Lindsay from Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary.

Today, I’d like to introduce you to Steve from JellyWatch. That’s right–jellyfish! And, to top it all off, we’ll even have real jellyfish at the exhibit.

Take it away, Steve!

Steve, tell us about yourself.

I’m Steve Haddock. I’m a marine biologist and researcher at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in Monterey, California. I study the diversity and bioluminescence of different kinds of jellyfish. The JellyWatch project was created along with Katherine Elliott.

What is your citizen science project?

Our project is jellywatch.org –a website that gathers and shares reports of observations of marine animals and especially jellyfish. We are trying to establish a baseline for what are high- and low-jellyfish years, in waters around the world. This will help us determine whether and in what ways the ocean might be changing. The data can also be downloaded by anyone for their own curiosity or research project.

What can people do at your demonstration?

We will be showing our site, along with some of the great photos and sightings that people have submitted. When people stop by, if they recall a jellyfish sighting they encountered, they can add it to our database on-site. We’ll also have some JellyWatch magnets to help spread the word.

What is your favorite part about working in citizen science?

Interacting with the global community is extremely rewarding. On any given day we can have sightings from three or four different continents, and it really is a great feeling. It is also interesting seeing the photos of jellies from all over. Interacting one-to-one with people at facebook.com/jellywatch is also a fun way to engage curious nature-lovers.

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!

Mary Guthrie is Director of Marketing for Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

In preparation for this weekend’s USA Science and Engineering Festival Expo, we’re featuring short Q&As with our collaborating partners, so you’ll know exactly what to expect at the Science for Citizens exhibit.

Today, I’d like to introduce you to Mary from Cornell University’s Lab of Ornithology. She’ll be your go-to expert on all things birds. Stop by Section PA-13, Booth Numbers 1229 and 1231, on Pennsylvania Ave NW, to chat with Mary and learn all the ways you can participate in scientific research on birds.

Take it away, Mary…

Mary, tell us a little about yourself.

Hi, I’m Mary Guthrie, and I do communications and marketing for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

What can people expect to learn about Cornell’s work at the Science for Citizens booth?

I’m going to the USA Science and Engineering Festival to talk about Celebrate Urban Birds, a project about noticing birds in the city and learning what you can do to help birds–even in tiny city spaces. The Cornell Lab takes bird sighting information from all over the world and uses it for scientific research on topics like climate change, or how non-native birds are spreading around the country.

For the festival, we’re going to show people how easy it is to be a citizen scientist–and give people a chance to see things from a bird’s perspective. You’ll have to stop by to find out exactly what I mean!

What do you love most about citizen science?

My favorite part of citizen science is that anyone can make a difference–anyone can do this and help scientists work towards figuring out big problems like climate change.

The USA Science & Engineering Festival Expo takes place October 23 & 24, 10 am - 5:30 pm, in Washington, DC.

The USA Science & Engineering Festival culminates this weekend, October 23-24, with a ginormous Expo featuring over 1,500 fun activities on the National Mall in Washington, DC.

The Science for Citizens team will be there to host our very own exhibit, which will feature several partner citizen science organizations and opportunities to participate in real, hands-on scientific research. The event is free, open to all ages, and requires absolutely no pre-registration. If you’re in the DC area this weekend, stop by and join us!

Our booth will be located at Section PA-13, Booth Number(s) 1229 & 1231, on Pennsylvania Ave NW between 13th and 14th St [Google Maps link].

All this week, we’re featuring a short Q&A with our collaborators so you’ll know what to expect when you get to the Festival. First up is Anne from Earthwatch!

Anne coordinates Earthwatch's NYC Coyote project and WildMetro.

Anne, tell us about yourself.

I am the coordinator of Earthwatch’s New York City (NYC) Coyote project and also the volunteer citizen science coordinator for WildMetro, a grassroots nature-based research and educational organization in NYC.

What are the goals of Earthwatch’s NYC Coyote Project?

We have been working in the NYC metropolitan area (the Bronx and Westchester counties) to determine coyote presence in parks and natural areas. As an Earthwatch project, we involve citizen scientists in collecting the data (deploying and taking down camera traps, setting up hair-trap stations, doing call-back surveys), as well as in basic data analysis (going through the collected images). To date we have confirmed coyote presence in five of the seven parks we have been working in.

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