Caroline Nickerson, PhD

The third Wednesday in January marks the iconic #MuseumSelfie Day each year, and in 2026 it falls on January 21. Created by @MarDixon, a visionary in cultural engagement (and sister of SciStarter founder Darlene Cavalier), #MuseumSelfie Day began in 2014 as a playful rebellion against traditional museum etiquette. At a time when institutions were hesitant to embrace photography—and certainly scoffed at selfies—Mar flipped the script, encouraging people to take and share selfies in museums to build personal connections with culture. Today, people and institutions around the world embrace #MuseumSelfie Day, reinforcing Mar’s belief that museums should belong to everyone. Even after her passing in March 2024, her influence continues to ripple across the cultural world. We invite you to join the fun this #MuseumSelfie Day (and tag @SciStarter in your fabulous photos!) 📸🏛️ In our first January newsletter, we celebrate #MuseumSelfie Day by spotlighting some of our favorite art, natural history, and museum-centric citizen science projects: 🎨 ArtSpots (@spotteron) – Map street art, architecture, and public creativity 🗂️ @smithsonian Transcription Center – Help organize “America’s Attic” 🌊 BiodivAquArt – Track marine life through art history 🌿 Notes from Nature (@the_zooniverse) – Digitize museum and herbarium collections 🦴 FossilFinder – Share fossil discoveries from museum collections and beyond Whether you’re visiting a museum in person or exploring from home, there’s always a way to turn curiosity into real research. 🔗 Read the newsletter: conta.cc/3Zd7aF8 📸 Tomorrow: post your #MuseumSelfie Day pics and tag @SciStarter! #CitizenScience #MuseumsForAll #ArtAndScience #SciStarter #MuseumSelfie Day

🧠✨ SciStarter LIVE: Alzheimer’s Month Catchathon ✨🧠 📅 When: September 30, 2025 | 2:00–3:00 PM EDT 🌍 Where: Anywhere on the planet (online!) 🎥 Presented by: SciStarter & @hcinst Let’s close out Alzheimer’s Awareness Month together! Join us for a LIVE Catchathon on Zoom and do Alzheimer’s research from home. Stall Catchers (@SciCatchers), created by the Human Computation Institute, is an online game where volunteers analyze brain blood vessel images (annotating the stalled blood vessels) to help scientists at Cornell University do Alzheimer’s research. ✅ Get started now! Create a free account at StallCatchers.com using the same email you used to create your SciStarter account. This helps you get credit in your SciStarter dashboard for Stall Catchers' contributions. Learn more on the Stall Catchers' SciStarter page → scistarter.org/stall-catcher… Then, register for the LIVE Catchathon → us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi… 🏆 Eager to get started before we meet on Zoom? There’s already an active leaderboard that's been running all month → bit.ly/3UXgYkD No experience needed; just curiosity and a desire to make a difference. Every click counts! #Catchathon #CitizenScience #AlzheimersAwareness #SciStarterLIVE

There's still time to register! geoemerge.com/hackathon-data… @FLInnovation @BrowardLibrary @GLOBEProgram