Citizen Scientist

Citizen Scientist is award-winning environmental journalist and author Mary Ellen Hannibals story of becoming a citizen scientist - and finding more than she bargained for at every turn.

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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.

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.