Introduction

Abstract

This book examines citizen science in the context of the Internet's impact on environmental science, focusing on large citizen science projects that involve monitoring biological and environmental change over broad geographic regions. It discusses the potential of citizen science as a way to study the natural world on broad geographic scales, along with the critical scientific perspectives and tools required to conduct large-scale citizen science research. It also highlights the areas of human endeavor and research that have been integrated with and continue to be influenced by citizen science, especially education. This introduction provides a brief history of citizen science and public participation in citizen science projects, along with an overview of the strategies that have evolved over the years at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology with respect to citizen science, and particularly its projects on birds.