citizen scientist

plural citizen scientists

1. An amateur (or nonprofessional) scientist; especially, a person who collects data from the natural world that can be used by scientists.

   As a citizen scientist, you may want to submit well-documented photographs to the website Odonata Central to increase the information available about where and when species turn up in this country. If you see migrating dragonflies, you can […]

   2014, Ann Cooper, Dragonflies: Q&A Guide: Fascinating Facts About Their Life in the Wild, Stackpole Books, →ISBN, page 94

   1 more example

   But now the stage is set for the return of the amateur, in a twenty-first century incarnation, as the citizen scientist. The popular spirit is willing. Citizen scientists already comprise the vanguard of a new nature movement, one as focused on […]

   2012, Janis L. Dickinson, Rick Bonney, Citizen Science: Public Participation in Environmental Research, Cornell University Press, →ISBN