American Chemical Society AMA: I am Darlene Cavalier, who founded SciStarter to help connect interested citizens and scientists to do real science together. Ask me anything about citizen science!

Abstract

Hi Reddit! I am Darlene Cavalier and I’m a Professor of Practice at Arizona State University's Center for Engagement and Training, part of the School for the Future of Innovation in Society. Helping anyone participate in science drives the work I do and I’ve founded several organizations to further this goal: SciStarter, the citizen science network (https://scistarter.com/); Science Cheerleader (http://www.sciencecheerleader.com/) which playfully challenges stereotypes, inspires young women to consider STEM careers, and encourages participation in citizen science; ECAST, the Expert and Citizen Assessment of Science and Technology network (https://ecastnetwork.org/) that combines citizens with experts to improve decision-making in science and technology issues. I’m also a founding Board Member of the Citizen Science Association (https://citizenscienceassociation.org/), a senior advisor at Discover Magazine, a member of the EPA's National Advisory Council for Environmental Policy and Technology, and co-editor/author of the book, The Rightful Place of Science: Citizen Science, published by ASU's Consortium for Science, Policy & Outcomes (June 2016). I live in Philadelphia, PA with my husband and our four children. In June 2016, I was part of a ACS Science & the Congress congressional briefing panel (www.acs.org/scicon) along with Andrew Torelli, who ran an AMA on his citizen science topic here shortly after https://redd.it/4o104w Wow! That was fun (and a little stressful trying to keep up! Special thanks to Dr. Rebecca Jordan for weighing in!). I'm happy to stick around until 2:30 to answer more questions and address those I haven't gotten to yet.... Thanks for joining me! Ask me anything about citizen science including how you could get involved!