Citizen Scientists

September 18, 2013 — CORAL GABLES, Fla. — A new online citizen science project called " Plankton Portal " provides a user experience like none other - exploring the open ocean from the comfort of your own home. Anyone will be able to virtually dive hundreds of feet deep, and observe the undisturbed ocean and the myriad animals that inhabit the earth's last frontier. Researchers from the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (RSMAS) collaborated with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) and developers at Zooniverse.org on the site. Montage image showing the range of different organisms imaged by ISIIS. Montage image credit: Cedric Guigand / Cowen Lab / Univ. Miami The goal of the site is to enlist volunteers to classify millions of underwater images to study plankton diversity, distribution and behavior in the open ocean.