Anecdata.org: An online citizen science platform for Building Climate Resilient Communities

Anecdata.org is a free online platform and mobile app developed by the Community Lab at the MDI Biological Laboratory which any group or individual can use to host citizen science projects, crowdsource information, and manage, and share observations of our changing environment. While other platforms have been created for citizen scientists to share observations, these have typically been limited to biodiversity surveys or bird counts; projects that require more versatile data collection capability and use paper datasheets or costly custom-made online data collection systems. Anecdata is designed to help projects managers develop data collection solutions by offering a far broader scope of data collection options; data collected may include measurements from water, snow, or air samples, beach debris tallies, species presence or absence reports, photographs, or written field notes. The site currently supports several projects related to sea level rise. We are building new tools to help project managers and participants in these communities to address climate change issues and develop climate resilience strategies.