Citizen science projects are activities that allow volunteers, regardless of whether they have a scientific background or not, to take part in scientific research. They are set up by a wide variety of organisations and, hence, there are all sorts of projects that you can take part in: for example, you could count butterflies in your back garden, identify different breeds in mixed-breed dog photos online or photograph cloud formations. There are activities that can be done at home, while you’re on holiday or entirely online. What’s common to all the different types of projects, however, is that you, as a volunteer, can contribute to building huge data sets that researchers would not otherwise be able to collect.
As a writer, taking part in a citizen science project can give you both new data and new experiences that you can incorporate into your writing. If you’d like to have a go, here’s a brief lowdown on how to get started.