Who can participate in citizen science? Everyone. Our 4,000 certified California Naturalists recorded over 7,000 volunteer hours under citizen science in 2019.

Though citizen science is a relatively new term, people have been participating and contributing to scientific research for years. With the field growing immensely within the past 10 years, technological advances have helped researchers involve more people, communities have come together to answer important questions, different groups have contributed and shared information, and so much more. It's a powerful tool to teach about and experience science.

However, many in the field have begun to acknowledge a problem: the name. Citizen science - currently the most...