Citizen Science Center

The mission of the Citizen Science Center is to bring together community members, individuals, teachers and students with environmental professionals and university researchers to carry out scientific research and promote environmental stewardship.

We work with a wide variety of organisms, ecosystem types, and events, many of which are listed below! Download A Brief History of the Citizen Science Center or our Citizen Science Center brochure to learn more about the program and how we came to be!

What is Citizen Science?
At Beaver Creek Reserve, citizen science refers to citizens conducting research that contributes to a better understanding of the natural world. Some projects improve our understanding of animal distributions, while others provide data for determining the water quality of our lakes and streams.

Why do Citizen Science?
Wisconsin has more species of organisms and more acres of property than professional scientists can study and monitor with their limited resources. Citizen Scientists can fill in the gaps by learning basic scientific techniques to assist with scientific studies.

Who does the Citizen Science Center Serve?
We train people of all ages and abilities to conduct citizen science. Some projects can be conducted in your own backyard, while others require traveling to specific locations. We also hire student interns every summer who receive valuable career training for biology and natural resource related careers.

How can the Citizen Science Center Serve You?
The Center has a large classroom, a laboratory where teachers, students, citizens, researchers and environmental professionals can analyze their data and a computer lab for recording and reporting results. Citizen Science invites all interested people to learn and participate in  scientific research. The Wildlands Science Research School, a partnership between BCR and the Augusta School District, is based at the Citizen Science Center.