Through the magic of technology, lay people can now work side by side with experts as part of community-building activities to perform scientific research, create computer software and help green the country through management of resources. 

From the comfort of your own home computer, laptop or desktop, you can help scientists and researchers collect information and develop new creations never before seen.

Do you believe the truth is out there?  How about aliens? You can be part of searching the heavens for extraterrestrial life by signing up for SETI at Home.
This program out of Berkeley has collected over a billion bits of information since its inception in May of 1999.

The program scientists found it gathered much more information from the dishes at Arecibo than their computer was able to process, so scientists came up with the theory that they could share out the work among thousands, perhaps millions of computers around the world. The program works as a screen saver on your computer; when you're not using your computer, the screen saver gets a chunk of data over the internet, analyzes it, and reports back to SETI.  

Currently SETI at Home is receiving data from 2 million-plus computers! So if you like to seek out new life and new civilizations, check them out.

If you'd prefer to help closer to home, you might try the  Quake-Catcher Network.  This project from Stanford University uses similar software to SETI's, allowing computers around the world to band together to form the "world's largest high-density, distributed computing seismic network.

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According to the website, the "client- and server-side software rapidly monitors incoming seismic signals, detects the magnitudes and locations of significant earthquakes, and may even provide early warnings to other computers and users before they can feel the earthquake."
 
The project uses accelerometers which are already installed in laptop computers, but can be added to desktops through a USB device. Schools will be able to participate in the program first, and lessons will be developed for classroom use of the devices. But then members of the general public will be able to become involved in a project that will provide information about earthquakes in their own neighborhoods and around the globe. 

Many environmental programs depend on lay people to help gather information about wildlife, birds and other natural phenomena, such as the NatureMapping program of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, along with the University of Washington. After training by workshop or video, people collect "wildlife and habitat data at schools, backyards and on community sites." The information becomes part of the state biological survey and is used for future resource management. Another such program is the Adirondack Science Online program, where citizen observers help collect information on loons, otters and more.

So you don't have to have multiple nerdy degrees or be able to understand Open Source computer coding in order to be part of the greater scientific endeavor. All it takes is a computer, a connection to the World Wide Web, and an understanding that we are all interconnected in real life, as well, and will benefit from contributing to our communities.