Feel Good by Doing Good: 4 Informative Citizen Science Books

The Field Guide to Citizen Science by Diane Cavalier, Catherine Hoffman, and Caren Cooper 

The Field Guide to Citizen Science provides everything you need to get started.

Citizen Science: Searching for Heroes and Hope in an Age of Extinction by Mary Ellen Hannibal 

A San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of 2016: “Intelligent and impassioned, Citizen Scientist is essential reading for anyone interested in the natural world.”

Award-winning writer Mary Ellen Hannibal has long reported on scientists’ efforts to protect vanishing species, but it was only through citizen science that she found she could take action herself. As she wades into tide pools, spots hawks, and scours mountains, she discovers the power of the heroic volunteers who are helping scientists measure—and even slow—today’s unprecedented mass extinction. Citizen science may be the future of large-scale field research—and our planet’s last, best hope.

Citizen Science: How Anyone Can Contibute to Scientific Discovery by Kathryn Hulick 

Citizen science has opened up the world of scientific research to anybody and everybody. It is being done in all areas of scienceincluding zoology, biology, astronomy, chemistry, and more. Some projects involve going outside and observing nature while others revolve around data obtained and shared over the internet. And whether one has scientific training or not, the contributions being made by citizen scientists are making a difference.

Handbook of Citizen Science in Ecology and Conservation by Christopher A. Lepczyk

Handbook of Citizen Science in Ecology and Conservation is the first practical and comprehensive manual for creating, implementing, or improving natural science research and monitoring projects that involve collaboration between scientists and the general public. As citizen-science projects become increasingly common, there is a growing need for concrete best practices around planning and implementing successful projects that allow project leaders to guide and gauge success while also ensuring the collection of high-quality data and rewarding experiences.