Citizen science allows regular people to contribute to scientific research.  Today it’s turbo-charged by technology, and by the need to grapple with nature as global change bears down.  This class introduces the history and basic concepts of citizen science.  These are embedded in Darwin's evolution by way of natural selection, and codified by the principles of conservation biology, a fairly new discipline established in the 1980s. The urgency of citizen science today concerns accelerated species extinctions that threaten all life on Earth.  We will explore the ways citizen science can help us get a more realistic view of landscapes and seascapes along with the species that co-create our world.  Social and environmental justice issues are integral to realigning the way we "see" what is happening where.  Students will learn about and use platforms for collecting data, especially iNaturalist and Zooniverse.  We will avail ourselves of the CCA Oakland campus for various exercises and projects.  We will explore the story-telling of science – expedition diaries, literary treatments, art, and especially visual geospatial data.    Select readings will be required, primarily from my book Citizen Scientist:  Searching for Heroes and Hope in an Age of Extinction.  This course meets the elective requirement for the Ecological Practices minor.

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