Citizen Science - A chance for anyone to be involved

Citizen science has become a type of research that has exploded in the past few decade. Because some areas of research are so vast, and have enormous numbers of measurements or data points that need to be looked at, or cover huge areas of physical space, there is no good way for an individual or small team of researchers to make the necessary observations or analyze the 'big data' sets that are collected. The solution - call the calvary! That is, make a bigger research team by getting volunteers, who are non-scientists and non-experts in the field, but who can help get through the data or make additional observations that otherwise would not be possible!

Keep in mind, these projects may give you some spin-off ideas for an individual project you can try, especially those that involve field work. Use these to find inspiration and trigger your own imagination!

Check out Zooniverse to see dozens of research projects that need help from someone just like you! National Geographic has numerous projects. There are many more, too, as listed on this Wikipedia page.