As a research hub and an incredibly diverse ecological treasure, San Diego is home to many citizen science projects and programs. The San Diego Citizen Science Expo is an event to encourage San Diegans to explore the diverse research projects that need public support. Explore the science happening in San Diego and find out how you can contribute to science doing things you already enjoy!
The San Diego Citizen Science Expo will be held at the La Jolla Public Library on March 11th, 2017. The program and a list of participating projects is still being developed, but you can expect 2017 to be a great year to do science in your own back yard. In addition to a fun-filled Expo event, we expect to launch the Passport to Citizen Science program.
For a sample of what’s to come, view the program for 2016’s San Diego Citizen Science Day Expo. Despite the lack of advertising, and the late planning for the event, the 2016 Expo was still attended by roughly a hundred San Diegans. With advertising sponsorship, we can grow this event!
If you would like to sponsor this event, please contact us!
You can also view the 2017 program here.
Schedule:
Main room:
9:30 am – 10:00 am : Exhibitor Set up (Exhibitors only)
10:00 am – 11:30 am : Exhibits open to public
11:30 am – 1:00 pm : Exhibits close. Lunch break Talks
1:00 pm – 3:30 pm : Exhibits re-open
3:30 pm – 4:00 pm : Exhibit Tear down (Exhibitors only)
Side room:
4:00 pm – 5:00 pm : Citizen Science Project Networking
Computer lab:
1:00 pm – 2:30 pm : NWiS Wikipedia Editathon
Women in Science Wikipedia Edit-a-thon
Wikipedia is one of the largest, most accessible sources of information online. It has thousands of well-referenced entries which make it a popular first stop for learning about a subject. Female scientists have been traditionally been underrepresented in history books and are underrepresented in Wikipedia. This gives the impression that women in science are unsuccessful and can be discouraging for girls in STEM. Since a lot of citizen science efforts are led by women and because Wikipedia uses crowdsourcing to improve its content, having a Women in Science Wikipedia Edit-a-thon is a natural fit. Join the Network for Women in Science (NWiS) at the Scripps Research Institute in improving Wikipedia articles on female scientists! Take a hands-on, crash course for editing Wikipedia entries and practice what you’ve learned by helping to improve existing Women in Science entries or even creating new ones! Learn more…
Speaker Schedule
11:30 am – 12:00 pm: Keynote from Dr. Embriette Hyde
12:01 pm – 12:16 pm: Dr. Mary Ann Hawk
12:17 pm – 12:27 pm: Dr. Ginger Tsueng
12:28 pm – 12:38 pm: Astrid Hsu
12:39 pm – 12:49 pm: Emily Ferrill
12:50 pm – 1:00 pm: Dr. Callen Hyland
Speaker Biographies
Keynote Speaker – American Gut Project Manager Embriette Hyde, PhD.
Dr. Embriette Hyde is the Project Manager for the American Gut Project–the largest crowdfunded citizen science project in existence. She received her doctoral degree at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM), where her love for genetics and her passion for microbiology culminated into her doctoral work on the human microbiome and its involvement in health, disease and death. After completing her doctoral studies, she joined the Rob Knight Lab. There, Dr. Hyde continued to study the intricate ways the microbiome can affect our health, and what it means to be human. Her research in the Knight Lab has focused on both the environmental and human microbiomes and as the Knight Lab moved to UCSD, Dr. Hyde became the Project Manager for the American Gut Project in August 2015.
Thanks to her efforts, the American Gut Project has been established as a key force in microbiome research highlighted through the White House’s National Microbiome Initiative. It has been expanded beyond the United States and has grown to include over 13,000 samples from over 41 countries, and in recognition of her impressive work, Dr. Hyde was selected as one of Forbes 2016 “30 Under 30 in Science” and was a featured guest on Live Wire.
The human microbiome is the world of microbes that exists in each of us, and the American Gut Project uses crowdsourcing to explore those worlds in order to reveal connections between our environment, our microbiome, and our health. In this regard, the study of the microbiome is an interesting reflection of the local citizen science community in San Diego–a fascinating mixture of biomedical, genomic, ecological, and environmental science made possible by the vibrant people of San Diego.
Dr. Mary Anne Hawke is a scientist and educator who dove headfirst into citizen science by running the San Diego County Plant Atlas at the SD Natural History Museum. That led to a follow-up project, barcoding plant specimens generated by the Plant Atlas. Her interest in mycology began with her Ph.D. project in a plant pathology lab at Agriculture Canada. These interests recently merged when she joined with the SD Barcode of Life, and started a new citizen science project to collect mushroom specimens in the county, deposit them in the SD Herbarium, and have them barcoded as part of iBOL – the largest biodiversity genomics initiative ever undertaken.
Dr. Ginger Tsueng is the scientific outreach project manager for the Su Lab at the Scripps Research Institute and the primary contact for citizen scientists and volunteers for Mark2Cure.org. She is interested in citizen science and open access issues and serves as the proposal editor for the Gene Wiki Review Series, an invited review series from GENE that incentivizes gene/protein experts to contribute to gene/protein articles in Wikipedia.
Astrid Hsu specializes in ocean education and outreach and manages these components of the Gulf of California Marine Program. Additionally, she also works with UCOP and SIO to coordinate a course on climate solutions. Astrid attained both her B.S. of Marine Biology (with a minor in Science Education) and her M.A.S. of Marine Biodiversity and Conservation at UCSD. She continues to explore how to influence conservation and public awareness through interdisciplinary methods.
Emily Ferrill is an Environmental Health Technician for the County of San Diego Vector Control Program. Emily holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology with an option in Zoology and a Master of Biology from California State University, Long Beach. In her free time she enjoys hiking, gardening and pulling invasive weeds around her home to help restore the native plant community.
Dr. Callen Hyland