[:en]Everyone can’t have a career in science, but nothing prevents you from taking part in various projects and contributing to important research. Thanks to technology, being a citizen scientist couldn’t be easier.

Citizen science, also known as crowd science, crowd-sourced science, civic science, volunteer monitoring or networked science, is scientific research conducted,  by amateur or nonprofessional scientists. (www.wikipedia.org)

Joseph M. Hulbert elaborates further in his article, Citizen science tools available for ecological research in South Africa:

“Ordinary citizens can participate in research from their home computer, in their own gardens, or in the great outdoors – without any expertise in the field. Many citizen science projects and opportunities exist in South Africa – ranging from monitoring bird migrations to identifying and mapping distributions of fungi.” 

One of the most popular fields where citizen science is practised is amateur astrology, but others include butterfly counts, ornithology, citizen oceanography and even art history. In South Africa CS projects include the Stream Assessment Scoring System (miniSASS) and at the University of Pretoria members of the public are helping researchers to identify Phytophthora (“plant destroyers”) species present in the fynbos. The main purpose of the research is to survey plant disease in the Fynbos Biome. By finding the locations where the disease is spotted, faster action can be taken and the conservation of Fynbos will be benefitted. Read more about the project here.

The University of Cape Town’s Animal Demography Unit (ADU) is responsible for many local citizen science projects. The unit has created various Virtual Museums, including the MammalMAP website where you can submit photos and add to a growing database of the habits and distribution of mammals in South Africa. If you’re not into mammals, there are virtual museums for anything from frogs and butterflies to starfish and sea urchins. 

Joseph M. Hulbert mentions two other local projects, OrchidMap and Aliens of the Cape Peninsula. OrchidMap is also one of the projects hosted by Virtual Museum and consists of nearly 3000 geo-referenced records for orchids being added since September 2014. Members of the public can upload images and locations of orchids on the database. Aliens of the Cape Peninsula attempts to locate new alien plants and their distribution on the Cape Peninsula.

If you are interested in being a citizen scientist and putting your photography and science skills to good use, here are a few tools you can use – 

Ispot is a South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) initiative. Since its launch in June 2012, it has contributed to the nearly 400 000 international observations of 30 000 different species reported by mid-2014.

WhatSpecies was started by a parent who wanted to help her children identify insects and plants. Subsequently, the website’s layout is friendly and accessible for a younger audience and it tries to engage youth on various social media platforms.

Virtual Museum, as mentioned earlier, is hosted by the Animal Demography Unit at the University of Cape Town. There are 17 different projects that citizens can participate in hosted on Virtual Museum alone.

The Cape Town Citizen website  also contains ample information on becoming a citizen scientist. Also watch the SciShow’s video on Citizen Science on YouTube.

[:af]Almal kan nie ʼn loopbaan in die wetenskappe hê nie, maar niks keer jou om deel te wees van navorsingsprojekte en ʼn bydrae tot belangrike navorsing te maak nie. Te danke aan tegnologie kan enigiemand nou ʼn wetenskaplike wees.

Burgerlike wetenskap, ook genoem massawetenskap, massa-gewerfde wetenskap, siviele wetenskap, vrywillige monitering of netwerk-wetenskap, is wetenskaplike navorsing wat uitgevoer word deur ʼn amateur of nie-professionele wetenskaplike. (www.wikipedia.org)

Joseph M. Hulbert noem in sy artikel, Citizen science tools available for ecological research in South Africa, dat gewone landsburgers, sonder enige ervaring, kan deelneem aan navorsing met behulp van hul eie rekenaars, in hul eie tuine of in die buitewêreld. Daar is vele geleenthede en projekte in Suid-Afrika vir amateur-wetenskaplikes – van die monitering van voël-migrasiepatrone tot die identifikasie en kartering van swamme. 

Amateur-sterrekkunde is een van die mees algemene vakgebiede waar nie-professionele wetenskap beoefen word. Ander sluit skoenlappertellings, voëlkunde, oseanografie en selfs kunsgeskiedenis in. Projekte in Suid-Afrika sluit die Stream Assessment Scoring System (miniSASS) in en by die Universiteit van Pretoria help die publiek navorsers om Phytophthora (plantvernietigende elemente) in Fynbos op te spoor en sodoende plantsiektes spesifiek tot Fynbos, te ondersoek. Lees hier meer oor die projek.

Die Universiteit van Kaapstad se Diere-demografie Eenheid (ADU) is verantwoordelik vir talle plaaslike gemeenskapswetenskapsprojekte. Die eenheid het reeds verskeie virtuele museums geskep, insluitende die MammalMAP webwerf waar jy fotos kan laai op die groeiende databasis van verspreiding en gewoontes van soogdiere in Suid-Afrika. As soogdiere jou nie interesseer nie, is daar enigiets van paddas en skoenlappers tot seesterre en seekastaiings in hierdie virtuele museums.

Joseph M. Hulbert verwys na twee ander plaaslike projekte, OrchidMap en Aliens of the Cape Peninsula. OrchidMap word sedert September 2014 op die Universiteit van Kaapstad se virtuele museum gehuisves. Lede van die publiek kan fotos en ligging van plante op die databasis, met bykans 3000 orgideë rekords met geo-etikette, laai. Aliens of the Cape Peninsula se doel is weer om om nuwe indringerplante en waar hulle versprei op die Kaapse Skiereiland, op te spoor.

Indien jy ʼn wetenskaplike in jou gemeenskap wil wees, hier is ʼn paar hulpmiddele om jou aan die gang te kry: 

Ispot,  ʼn South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) inisiatief, is in Junie 2012 begin. Feitlik 400 000 internasionale observasies van 30 000 verskillende spesies is teen middel-2014 aangeteken. 

WhatSpecies is die breinkind van ʼn ouer wat haar kinders wou help om plante en insekte te identifiseer. Die webwerf se uitleg is gevolglik gebruikersvriendelik en toeganklik vir ʼn jonger leser en poog om, deur middel van sosiale media platforms, jongmense te betrek.

Soos vroeër genoem, word Virtual Museum bestuur deur die ADU by UK. Daar is reeds 17 verskillende projekte op die platform waarby die publiek by betrokke kan raak.

Die Cape Town Citizen webwerf  is ook propvol informasie en instruksies vir aspirerende wetenskaplikes. Kyk gerus ook The SciShow se video oor gemeenskapswetenskap op YouTube.