So you want to be a civilian scientist？The National Science Foundation（NSF）has got you covered．NSF supports civilian science across all area of science，whether your passion is to scan the night sky，or explore your own backyard．

Join a group of birders．

eBird is an online platform that allows bird-watchers to go online and record their sightings to a database．With more than 100，000active users，eBird's system is a treasure of information on bird population，distribution and habitat，with users can explore in real time．

Count every drop．

The Community Collaborative Rain，Hail and Snow Network（CoCoRaHS） is the largest provider of daily precipitation（降水）observations in the United States．Volunteers set up rain gauges（测量仪器）and record data every time rain or snow passes over．Data is organized and shared on the CoCoRaHS website，and used by scientists，farmers and more．

Search for stars with your computer．

Einstein@Home uses your computer's spare time to search for space signals．The project has already had major successes； Volunteers discovered about 50stars，using data from Puerto Rico's Arecibo Observatory and Australia's Parkes Observatory．Einstein@Home also searches for gravitational-wave signals using data from NSF's Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory．

Be part of a supercomputer．

To link all those home computers，Einstein@Home uses the software called the Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing，better known as BOINC．The software choreographs（编排）the technical aspect of volunteer computing and help you use radio telescope signals to search for creatures outside the earth．

Join the Plankton Party．

Without plankton，life in the ocean would not exist．These tiny organisms form the base of the food chain，and play an important role in the global carbon cycle．Plankton Portal enlists（征募） civilian scientists to identify images of plankton，snapped by In Situ Icthyoplan