Citizen Scientist [Kietas viršelis]

A science writer, mourning the recent loss of her father, finds solace in citizen science, with its promise to slow and reverse another kind of loss she’s been deeply grappling with—the unprecedented mass extinction of species

Here is a wide-ranging adventure in becoming a citizen scientist by an award-winning writer and environmental thought leader. As Mary Ellen Hannibal wades into tide pools, follows hawks, and scours mountains to collect data on threatened species, she discovers the power of a heroic cast of volunteers—and the makings of what may be our last, best hope in slowing an unprecedented mass extinction.
 
Digging deeply, Hannibal traces today’s tech-enabled citizen science movement to its roots: the centuries-long tradition of amateur observation by writers and naturalists. Prompted by her novelist father’s sudden death, she also examines her own past—and discovers a family legacy of looking closely at the world. With unbending zeal for protecting the planet, she then turns her gaze to the wealth of species left to fight for.
 
Combining original reporting, meticulous research, and memoir in impassioned prose, Citizen Scientist is a literary event, a blueprint for action, and the story of how one woman rescued herself from an odyssey of loss—with a new kind of science.

Citizen Scientist is award-winning environmental journalist and author Mary Ellen Hannibal’s story of becoming a citizen scientist—and finding more than she bargained for at every turn. She knew she was joining a flourishing community of volunteers who help conserve nature, but she was surprised to learn how this new and tech-enabled movement continues a rich tradition of amateur observation established by writers and naturalists over centuries. And she knew, in the midst of an unprecedented mass extinction, that she would find a shrinking number of species, but she couldn’t know how her father’s sudden passing would tear open her quest to confront loss.

Ultimately, to be a citizen scientist is to intimately examine all the life that still finds a way. So as Hannibal, alongside an inspiring cast of fellow citizen scientists, discovers a wealth of species—by wading into tide pools, tracking hawks, scouring mountains—she also rescues herself from an odyssey of loss, and finds a hopeful and practical way forward.