New technologies have provided a flood of data that makes new forms of science possible, but threaten to overwhelm researchers. "Citizen science" projects solve this problem by recruiting volunteers to make meaningful contributions to research. In this lecture, Chris Lintott will explain how his team's citizen science efforts grew from humble beginnings in an Oxford pub to enabling almost half a million volunteers to provide 250 million classifications, sort galaxies, discove planets and even explore lost Greek texts in What to Do with 500,000 Scientists.

Lintott is a researcher at the University of Oxford, where he is also a Junior Research Fellow at New College. Following an undergraduate degree in Natural Science at Magdalene College in the University of Cambridge and a Ph.D. in astrochemistry at University College London, his research now focuses on the nature of star formation in galaxies beyond the Milky Way. He is passionately committed to promoting the public understanding of science, being best known as co-presenter of the BBC's long-running Sky at Night series, and as co-author of Bang!: The complete history of the Universe, which has been translated into more than a dozen languages.

Cost: FREE

Presented by the Jesse and John Danz Endowment

Sponsoring Departments:
UW Graduate School
UW Alumni Association
College of Arts & Sciences
Astronomy Department
Computer Science and Engineering
Department of Physics