Anya Lear

I spent 8.2 hours doing about 30 different projects on Zooniverse. Examples of projects on the platform include Chimp&See, SquirrelMapper, European Camera Trap Project, Dolphin Spotting, Frog Find, and Spyfish Aotearoa. These projects connect to zoology, marine biology, and ecology because they investigate animal behavior, evolution, habitats, and biodiversity. Other projects, such as Penguin Watch, Beluga Bits, Monkey Health Explorer, and Woodpecker Cavity Cam, focus on animal populations, cell types, and nesting behavior. Exploring these different research topics demonstrates that biology involves much more than studying the human body; it also involves understanding the organisms that live on Earth and how they survive in their environments. Several other Zooniverse projects demonstrate the importance of studying plants, microorganisms, ecosystems, and the relationships between living things. FloraDiva and Notes from Nature: CAS Plants to Pixels connect to botany because they help researchers organize information about plant species, their locations, and their growth patterns. Notes from Nature: Digitizing Biological Collections in Canada includes biological records involving plants, insects, fungi, and bacteria. Plankton Portal relates to marine biology because plankton support aquatic food webs and contribute to ocean health, while Notes from Nature: Terrestrial Parasite Tracker connects to parasitology by investigating parasites associated with other organisms. Projects such as Kelp Quest, Everglades Wildlife Watch, Cedar Creek: Eyes on the Wild, and PARCS en Santé demonstrate how organisms interact with their surroundings. Other examples, including Wildwatch Burrowing Owl, Chicago Wildlife Watch, Snapshot Wisconsin, Snapshot Dubuque Iowa, and Smithsonian Wildlife: Our Shared Future 250, support wildlife monitoring and conservation. My 8.2 hours of participation provided an opportunity to appreciate how volunteers can support scientific discovery and how biological knowledge can contribute to a better understanding of life, health, and the environment.