Global Earth Challenge™

Join a global citizen science effort to protect our planet

Landscape view of the earth from space with the sun beginning to rise over the horizon.
Earth Day participants carry signs and march down a city street in this black and white photo..
Earth Day participants carry signs and march down a city street in this black and white photo..

Photo: Benjamin Bellier

Fifty years ago, Earth Day became the largest people's protest in the history of the world.

And we changed the world for the better, by creating clean air and clean water laws—with the help of scientists, policy leaders, and a movement that couldn't be stopped.

Today's environmental threats of extreme climate change, pollution to our air and water can feel overwhelming.

Fortunately, the EARTHDAY.ORG, the U.S Department of State’s Eco-Capitals Forum, and The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars are launching Global Earth Challenge™, the world's most accessible and transparent citizen science database portal ever created.

A boy and a girl clean up litter in a forested area on Earth Day as other volunteers work in the background.
A boy and a girl clean up litter in a forested area on Earth Day as other volunteers work in the background.

Photo: EARTHDAY.ORG

"Science really created the first Earth Day, because it came at a time when scientists started to understand the impacts of industrial development on our planet. Now, with growing environmental concerns science provides evidence-based policy decisions and upholds the common good." — Kathleen Rogers, EARTHDAY.ORG

The initiative will combine data from existing citizen science projects with information from a new mobile app to shed light on key environmental issues and grow citizen science worldwide. 

And we need your help.

A horizontal collage of four photos, including an earth day crowd with signs, a family planting a tree, a hand holding a cell phone, and four volunteers holding signs with pro-environmental messages.

Everyone has a role to play

Students, researchers, and organizations large and small will be working together on this citizen science initiative to help advance environmental research.

In 2017, we launched a global crowdsourcing call for people to tell us “The most important questions in human and environmental health.” Based on results from all 7 continents, we identified six initial research areas to focus on:

Blue and white logos that represent the six Earth Challenge 2020 research areas: plastics, air quality, insects, climate, food security, and water quality.

Earth Day should not be seen as a deadline but rather a spark that inspires future action. 

This is why we're launching the project on Earth Day with two research areas—plastics and air quality—and building out additional opportunities for data collection and data sharing for other key milestones, like World Environment Day.

A close up of a hand holding a mobile phone and focusing in on an image of a tree-lined path.

Photo: Dhyamis Kleber

Throughout 2020, we will roll out additional data collection widgets until we have supported all six of the Global Earth Challenge™ research areas. After 2020, we will work with new partners to identify even more areas to explore.

These data will contribute to existing environmental data to help promote better environmental policies, ranging from single use plastic bans in local communities to monitoring progress against the  United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) .

All you need is a mobile device to get started.

A blue and white icon of a plastic bottle.

Let's take a look at plastic pollution as an example.

Researchers are trying to understand the global extent of plastic pollution.

As part of Global Earth Challenge™, you can help identify sources of plastic pollution and the areas most effected by it.

Photo: Alexander Schimmeck


A palm-tree lined beach and ocean covered with litter.

You'll contribute to existing global data about plastic pollution.

The European Environment Agency (EEA)’s Marine Litter Watch, The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s Marine Debris Monitoring and Assessment Project, and Ocean Conservancy’s Trash Information and Data for Education and Solutions (TIDES) Program all collect citizen science data on plastics pollution through beach cleanup events. The map to the right highlights existing data from these organizations.

Explore the map to see the top ten pollutants by country—and the power of shared data.

Photo: Jamie Street


Engaging the world...

Starting April 1st, simply download the Global Earth Challenge™ mobile application from the  Android  or  Apple  app stores.

Start collecting data on air quality and plastics pollution, and submit! 

It's that easy!


The data you submit will be validated by machine learning algorithms or expert reviewers. 

The resulting database—of over one billion data points—will be displayed on a public map and made available as open data for researchers to use.

Check the  Global Earth Challenge ™ website for updates and more information.

As a citizen, it feels good to report about something that’s bothering you. A continuous feed of information at volume and at a global scale will make these issues impossible to ignore. —Kathleen Rogers, EARTHDAY.ORG


Together we can collect data to answer the hard questions.

Citizen science projects have been active around the world for hundreds of years. This project recognizes, elevates, and builds upon their work. The value we bring is helping develop and implement data and metadata standards and other tools to help these projects share their open data, and help break down disciplinary silos. 

This adds to the narrative that the earth’s most pressing challenges must be solved in a networked approach rather than in a vacuum. Citizen science is a critical source of data that can complement other types of information, like from satellite Earth Observations (EO). 

With our partners, we are working to not only integrate citizen science data sets but also create an Open Data Catalogue for the community to find and access open and interoperable information. Citizen science is already used to help understand and solve problems in local communities. Through this project, we hope to enable that data to be re-used by other researchers and policy makers on local to global scales.

Researchers around the world are helping us out....

To help make sure that Global Earth Challenge™ advances scientific research, we are recruiting experts around the world to offer their advice. The Wilson Center and Colorado State University are coordinating six research teams so academic researchers, educators, members of the public policy community, and interested citizen science volunteers can offer guidance on our data collection protocols and existing citizen science projects we might partner with.

"Global Earth Challenge™ is an activation. We’re working to help set up an infrastructure of citizen science communities and technologies that will live beyond 2020."

Dr. Anne Bowser, Wilson Center

A shovel digs into dark soil lightly sprinkled with green sprouts.

“At the end of the 21st century, historians will look for the origins of use of personal technologies to support the wider good. They will identify Earth Challenge 2020 as a significant catalyst and contribution to the 21st century science and environmental movement.”

Landon Van Dyke, Senior Advisor at the U.S. Department of State

A packed crowd celebrates Earth Day with a march and signs.

"Earth Challenge 2020 will advance key research questions with citizen science data that can be collected, integrated, analyzed and then visualized on a map."

Dawn Wright, Esri Chief Scientist

Get involved

Participate in the largest environmental movement of our time and elevate the role of citizen science around the world!

Want to participate in citizen science? Learn more about  Global Earth Challenge ™ and how you can get involved by visiting our website or downloading the mobile app.

Interested in learning more about how Global Earth Challenge™ is contributing to scientific research? Visit our  Research Community  page to access citizen science data, view our analysis, or join an Global Earth Challenge™ research team.

The United States Department of State, Earth Day Network, and Wilson Center logos displayed above the following partner logos: CitSci.org, United Nations Environment Programme, American Association for the Advancement of Science, World Green Building Council, Esri, Citizen Science Asia, OmniVista, Connect 4 Climate, Extreme Citizen Science, Eye on Earth, ESA, Group on Earth Observations, GH International, GeoMarvel, Conservation Labs, HultPrize, kinetica, EarthWatch Institute, OCG, Rese Standard, Human Computation Institute, ASTC, National Council for Science and the Environment, SciStarter, EarthEcho International.

A horizontal collage of five photos: children jumping all together on a beach, a shovel digs into soil, children participate in an Earth Day cleanup event, a spiral of stained-glass windows, and two girls in a classroom.

About this story

Coordinated through a partnership between EARTHDAY.ORG, the Wilson Center, and the U.S. Department of State, Global Earth Challenge™ connects, builds, and enables global communities to leverage the power of scientific research to drive meaningful change. Starting in April 2020, the campaign will use a new mobile app and open data platform to collect and integrate billions of observations in air quality and plastic pollution, providing a platform and valuable environmental insight to promote policy change in these areas.

Photo: Benjamin Bellier

Photo: EARTHDAY.ORG

Photo: Dhyamis Kleber

Photo: Jamie Street