Citizen Science in the Spotlight

Yeaterday the Washington Post published a great article on the citizen science movement I wanted to share. It highlights a number of the projects previously featured here on OpenScientist (such as Galaxy Zoo and the Bird Phenology Program) as well as some (such as Field Expedition Mongolia) that will be featured here shortly. So it's also a great preview of coming attractions too!

The article does a great of highlighting the most important way to keep volunteers motivated to get involved, as seen in this section:

Though professional scientists have collaborated with amateurs for decades, social networking and the Internet are making it more fruitful than ever.

“We found that we could make something that was engaging enough to inspire people to participate without having to pay them,” says [Project Leader Albert] Lin. “This is the part of citizen science that is most interesting to me: How can we motivate people to dedicate their time?”

How? By making it fun, Lin said.

So check out the full article at here, and let me know your comments on it below.   Does it capture what you love about citizen science too?