Counting on you; Interested in roadkill, birds, stars, fireflies? Become a citizen scientist.

Byline: George Barnes 

If there's a dead skunk in the middle of the road, and it's stinking to high heaven, don't drive over it. Don't ignore it. Contact Dr. Splatt.

He'll add it to his list.

Dr. Splatt, a name given to New Hampshire teacher Brewster Bartlett by his students, has spent the last 16 years using citizen science to illustrate to students - and anyone who is interested - the death toll suffered by animals on this country's streets and highways.

Although not for the queasy, the project is one of many where ordinary citizens can work with scientists to expand understanding of the world. Best known is the Audubon Society's annual Christmas Bird Count, which draws on thousands of citizen scientists from across the United States, Canada, Mexico and parts of South and Central America. They spend the period between Dec. 15 and Jan. 5 counting and identifying as many birds as they can within a specified area. Other opportunities abound for people who might like to do their science during warmer months.

If you love watching fireflies on summer nights, there is the Firefly Watch. Flower fans can weigh in on Project Budburst. If you are a stargazer, check out the Great Worldwide Star Count in October. There are also earthquake, mountain and Monarch butterfly monitoring projects, projects to count bees on sunflowers and a search for lost lady bugs. Cornell Lab of Ornithology alone offers 12 different bird-related projects for citizen scientists.

They all have one thing in common: The scientists running them want a few good citizens to help them with research.

"For a lot of science, all you need to have is someone who is a good observer," said David Small, who has helped organize the Christmas bird count in Athol for many years. He is president of the Athol Bird and Nature Club; he has also helped organize studies of dragonflies, butterflies and many other wild creatures.

Mr. Brewster is a high school teacher who got his start as Dr. Splatt when he attended a seminar at Simmons College aimed at using science projects to get teachers to use e-mail. He said the project the group came up with was to study lichens, but he realized the project would never hold his students' interest.

"Then I saw a dead skunk in the road and thought about the song and came up with the project."

Why not count dead skunks and other roadkill, he thought.

Many corpses later, the project is online, hosted by Leominster-based education company EduTel Communications run by former Clinton High School teacher Paul Colombo of Leominster. Mr. Colombo helped create the Roadkill Project and ran it in Clinton Schools for 17 years. The Web site tracks information and allows people to enter their observations. Students have also contributed to the cause by giving Mr. Brewster the nickname of Dr. Splatt and coining the term URPs for unidentified remains they find. URPs stands for unidentified road pizza.

Fitchburg State College professor Christopher Cratsley does not have things as dramatic as dismembered and flattened squirrels to attract citizen scientists to his project, but he is studying insects that evoke fond childhood memories of summer. Mr. Cratsley works with fellow firefly researchers Kristian Demay and Adam South of Tufts University, and science educator Don Salvatore and senior exhibit developer Maureen McConnell, both of the Museum of Science in Boston, on a project tracking the appearance of fireflies. They want to learn more about fireflies' geographic distribution and the effects human-made light and pesticides in lawns may have on them.

Mr. Cratsley said letting citizens take part in science projects on a formal basis is an extension of what is already happening. "The way science happens is that often the first step in investigating a big issue is that something is reported by the general public."

Mr. Cratsley travels around the world studying fireflies, but said he has also come to appreciate the value of observations of those not trained as scientists. On a trip to Thailand, he said, the group he was with had to rely on a local boatman to ferry them around. "He turned out to be an incredible source of information."

The man was a keen observer and noted which trees had fewer fireflies on them than in the past; he was even able to tell the group about someone who had seen something eating fireflies.

Seeking help from the public can sometimes have spectacular results. Oxford University astronomy graduate student Kevin Schawinski was faced with classifying galaxies in 50,000 photographs taken by a robotic telescope. He and researcher Chris Lintott created Galaxy Zoo, where amateur astronomers are invited to help review the photographs and classify the galaxies.

That was in 2007. Since then, with many more images, the Web site users have far exceeded Mr. Schawinski's original plan: More than 180,000 users have made 75 million classifications of 1 million images.

Galaxy Zoo is somewhat complex and requires more science knowledge than projects such as the U.S. Geological Survey's "Did you feel it," where people are asked the question and then try to match the shake they felt to an earthquake shown on a map.

The Great Sunflower Project is also relatively easy, asking participants to plant lemon queen sunflower seeds, grow the flowers, and then determine from when the flower opens how long it takes for five bees to visit the plant. Project Budburst wants to know when buds open for the season.

All the projects require is someone who is a good observer and wants to get involved.

ART: PHOTO; CHART

CUTLINE: (PHOTO) With a net and headlamp, a citizen scientist can study fireflies like Fitchburg State College professor Christopher Cratsley. (CHART) If you want to be a citizen scientist go to ...

PHOTOG: (PHOTO) T&G Staff/RICK CINCLAIR