ZONAZOOniverse

Image by Grant Miller for the Zooniverse

Via Wikimedia Commons Zooniverse Photo

Zooniverse is a website designed around citizen science. In Katherine Xue’s article in the Harvard Magazine she defines citizen science as, “enabling ordinary people, often without formal training, to contribute to scientific research in their spare time.” Later in the article, Xue also states that, “Technology may have provided citizen science with diverse avenues to narrow the gap between amateurs and experts, but further progress—if that is indeed the movement’s goal—will require dedicated effort on both sides.” 

I recently participated in a Zooniverse citizen science project, classifying animals from Africa. Agreeing with Xue’s statement, I noticed this online platform allows for collaboration between expert researchers and everyday individuals, who may in this case be considered amateurs. Zooniverse gives those expert researchers the opportunity to crowdsource from across the globe, which then does help close the gap between amateurs and experts. 

In my case of participating in a study on African animals, I collaborated with eleven other active participants. When collaborating with one individual through a message board, I realized how amazing technology is, allowing researchers to crowdsource, as well as participants to collaborate. Citizen science is an avenue of online collaboration I had not previously given much thought to, but after participating, I strongly encourage you to check out Zooniverse and participate.