Citizen Science

Citizen scientists search for life in the intertidal zone during a biodiversity study.

NPS Photo

National parks are ideal for citizen science. Imagine being in a beautiful place, collecting data, learning science, having fun, socializing, and helping managers protect a place that you love. What could be better?

In national parks, everyone can help create new knowledge–school kids and adults, families and singles, local residents and well-traveled visitors. With a wide range of citizen science projects, volunteers can participate in different ways. You might take photos of wildlife and upload them through an app for a study on biodiversity. You could visit a forest or meadow and record when flowers bloom to help understand how climate change affects ecosystems. You could participate in an archeological excavation to understand the past. Or help archivists and museum experts by digitizing collection records so they’re available to scholars worldwide.

For information about citizen science in national parks generally, see the NPS Citizen Science page.

Citizen Science Projects at RLCs

Continental Divide RLC: Study plant phenology, mercury accumulation in dragonfly larvae, and changing forests

Crown of the Continent RLC: Track loon populations and nesting success, monitor mountain goats and bighorn sheep, and count raptors during the fall migration.

Great Lakes REC: Monitor monarch butterflies and their milkweed host plants.

Schoodic ERC: Study many aspects of Acadia, including intertidal seaweeds, landscape and climate change, biodiversity, migrating birds, plant phenology, and more.