Darlene Cavalier
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Mail code: 6002Campus: Tempe
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Darlene Cavalier is a professor of practice at Arizona State University's School for the Future of Innovation in Society and a Senior Global Futures Scientist, Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory at ASU. Cavalier is also an Honorary Fellow (2024-2028) at Southern Denmark University.
Professor Cavalier is the founder of SciStarter (a popular citizen science portal and research platform connecting millions of people to real science they can do), founder of Science Cheerleaders (a non profit organization comprised of current and former NFL, NBA and college cheerleaders pursuing STEM careers), cofounder of ECAST: Expert and Citizen Assessment of Science and Technology and cofounder of ScienceNearMe.org. She is a founding board member of the Citizen Science Association, an advisor and Fellow at National Geographic, a member of the EPA's National Advisory Council for Environmental Policy and Technology, appointed to the National Academy of Sciences "Designing Citizen Science to Support Science Learning" committee and named cochair of America 250's Innovation, Science, and Entrepreneurism Advisory Council. She is the co-editor of "The Rightful Place of Science: Citizen Science," author of "The Science of Cheerleading," and co-author of the Field Guide to Citizen Science (Timber Press). ASU President Michael Crow awarded Cavalier and her team the prestigious ASU Medal for Social Embeddedness in 2022. Cavalier received the 2024 Pop Warner Inspiration Award. She resides in Philadelphia, PA.
- M.L.A. University of Pennsylvania 2005
- B.S. Communications, minor in Performing Arts, Temple University 1991
Select Publications and Presentations:
Haley E. Smith, Caren B. Cooper, K.C. Busch, Suzanne Harper, Amy Muslim, Kaleigh McKenna & Darlene Cavalier. (2023) Facilitator organizations enhance learning and action through citizen science: a case study of Girl Scouts’ Think Like a Citizen Scientist journey on SciStarter, Environmental Education Research.
Sara E Futch, Lincoln R Larson, Caren B Cooper, Bethany B Cutts, Bradley Allf, Maria V Sharova, Darlene Cavalier, Cathlyn Davis.(2022, November 18) Exploring connections among projects across the citizen science landscape: A social network analysis. PeerJ.
Futch, S., Larson, L., Cooper, C., Cutts, B., Allf, B., Sharova, M., Cavalier, D., Davis, C. (2022, November 18). Exploring connections among projects across the citizen science landscape: A social network analysis. PeerJ.
Ben Zaken, D., Segal, A., Cavalier, D., Shani, G., & Gal, K. (2022). Generating Recommendations with Post-Hoc Explanations for Citizen Science. Proceedings of the 30th ACM Conference on User Modeling, Adaptation and Personalization, 69–78.
Allf, B., Cooper, C., Larson, L., Dunn, R., Futch, S., Sharova, M., Cavalier, D., Citizen Science as an Ecosystem of Engagement: Implications for Learning and Broadening Participation, BioScience, Volume 72, Issue 7, July 2022, Pages 651–663.
Smith, H., Cooper, C., Busch, K.C., Muslim, A., Harper, S., McKenna, K., Teris, L., Nickerson, C., Arbuckle, D. & Cavalier, D. (2022, May 23-26). Facilitator Organizations Enhance Environmental Citizen Science Outcomes: A Case Study of the Girl Scouts' "Think Like a Citizen Scientist" Journey. [Collaborative Poster Virtual Session]. Citizen Science Association 2022 C*Sci Conference.
Cavalier, D., Early, E., National Girls Collaborative, SciStarter, Salthouse, R., Ash, D., & Arizona State University. (2022, April 28). Libraries as Community Hubs for Citizen Science. CSA Connect.
Allf BC, Cooper CB, Larson LR, Dunn RR, Futch SE, Sharova M, Cavalier D. (2022, May 23-26). New Horizons for Citizen Science Participation: Multiproject Volunteers [Virtual Presentation]. C*Sci: Conference of the Citizen Science Association.
Cavalier D, Nickerson C, Cooper CB, Allf BC. (2022, February 17-20). Citizen Science Resources: Leveraging SciStarter for Participatory Research. [Virtual Workshop]. American Association for the Advancement of Science Annual Meeting.
Cooper, C. B., Hawn, C. L., Larson, L. R., Parrish, J. K., Bowser, G., Cavalier, D., Dunn, R. R., Haklay, M. (Muki), Gupta, K. K., Jelks, N. O., Johnson, V. A., Katti, M., Leggett, Z., Wilson, O. R., & Wilson, S. (2021). Inclusion in citizen science: The conundrum of rebranding. Science, 372(6549), 1386–1388.
Allf BC, Cooper CB, Larson LR, Cavalier D, Spiers H, Futch SE, Sharova M, Dayan N, Gal K. (2020, September 6-11). SciStarter: The impact of a 3rd party platform on volunteer communities. [Virtual Workshop]. ECSA: European Citizen Science Association Conference. Triste, Italy.
Cavalier, D. (2021, May 7). Libraries are Quickly Becoming Community Hubs for Citizen Science. Discover Magazine.
Ignat, T., Cavalier, D., & Nickerson, C. Citizen Science and Libraries: Waltzing towards a collaboration. Communications of the Association of Austrian Librarians 72(2). 2019. https://doi.org/10.31263/voebm.v72i2.3047
Auerbach, J., Barthelmess, E. L., Cavalier, D., Cooper, C. B., Fenyk, H., Haklay, M., Hulbert, J. M., Kyba, C. C. M., Larson, L. R., Lewandowski, E., & Shanley, L. (2019). The problem with delineating narrow criteria for citizen science.
Allf, B., Cooper, C., Cavalier, D., & Larson, L. (2020, May 5-12). Citizen science for all [Online Video]. In NSF STEM for All Video Showcase.
Parrish, J. K., Jones, T., Burgess, H. K., He, Y., Fortson, L., & Cavalier, D. (2019). Hoping for optimality or designing for inclusion: Persistence, learning, and the social network of citizen science. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(6), 1894–1901.
Prange, E., Lande, M. & Cavalier, D. (2018). Citizen Science Maker Summit Report: Learning Outcomes and Next Steps. Arizona State University White Paper. Tempe, AZ.
Contributor, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, (2021-06-25) 116(31), 15336–15337.
Inclusion in citizen science: The conundrum of rebranding. SCIENCE Journal article DOI: 10.1126/science.abi6487
Cooper, Caren & Hawn, Chris & Larson, Lincoln & Parrish, Julia & Bowser, Gillian & Cavalier, Darlene et al (2021). Inclusion in citizen science: The conundrum of rebranding. Science. 372. 1386-1388. 10.1126/science.abi6487.
Neches RY, Lang JM, Jospin G, Brown WE, Cavalier D, Hampton-Marcell J, Gilbert JA, Eisen JA. (2020) Bacterial communities associated with cell phones and shoes.PeerJ8:e9235
Cavalier, D., Hoffman, C., Cooper, C., (2020) “Field Guide to Citizen Science”. Timber Press.
Neches RY, Lang JM, Jospin G, Brown WE, Cavalier D, Hampton-Marcell J, Gilbert JA, Eisen JA. (2020) Bacterial communities associated with cell phones and shoes.PeerJ8:e9235
AAAS Conference Panelist: “Designing Citizen Science to Enhance Science Learning,” sharing outcomes from a National Academies’ Report. February 2020
Contributor, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2018) Learning Through Citizen Science: Enhancing Opportunities by Design. Washington, DC. The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.1722625183
Parrish, J., Jones, T., Burgess, H., He, Y., Fortson, L., Cavalier, D. (2018) “Hoping for optimality or designing for inclusion: Persistence, learning, and the social network of citizen science.” PNAS.
Information to Action: Strengthening EPA Citizen Science Partnerships for Environmental Protection. EPA National Advisory Council for Environmental Policy and Technology (NACEPT). 2018.
Hoffman, C., Cooper, C., Cavalier, D., Kennedy, E., Farooque, M. (2016) Analyzing the Role of Citizen Science in Modern Research. A book edited by 1000001 Labs Ceccaroni, L, Piera, J, (Editors).
Author, coauthor, editor of the following books:
Cavalier, D., et al (2026) Citizen Science in the Classroom. Harvard Education Press.
Cavalier, D., Hoffman, C., & Cooper, C. (2020) The Field Guide to Citizen Science: How You Can Contribute to Scientific Research and Make a Difference. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press.
Cavalier, D., Kennedy, E., (2016) “The Rightful Place of Citizen Science,” The Rightful Place of Science is a book series published by Arizona State University's Consortium for Science, Policy & Outcomes, and edited by G. Pascal Zachary.
PI, IMLS, Citizen Science Ambassadors: Libraries as Community Hubs for Citizen Science 4.0. Organization: ASU LG-254823-OLS-23 $249,425 9/2023- 8/2025.
PI, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation: Libraries as Community Hubs for Citizen Science 4.0. Organization: ASU G11328-300 $329,089 12/1/2023 to 12/31/2025.
PI: IMLS LG-246428-OLS-20, “Scaling, Supporting, Sustaining Libraries as Community Hubs for Citizen Science.” $481,377. 9/2020-8/2024.
PI: Moore Foundation, “Scaling Supporting, Sustaining Libraries as Community Hubs for Citizen Science.” $600,000. 9/2020-8/2024.
PI, NASA, “Expanding Citizen Science through NASA GLOBE.” $65,000 2019-2024.
PI: National Library of Medicine through UCLA, “Citizen Science Month.” $270,000 9/2020-4/2021.
PI: National Network of the Library of Medicine, “Foundations of Citizen Science” and “Libraries as Community Hubs for Citizen Science” training modules. $79,000 1/2021-4/2021.
PI: National Library of Medicine via UCLA, “Citizen Science Month.” $250,000 9/2019-4/2020.
PI: UCLA, “Citizen Science Day.” $49,000 9/2018-4/2019.
PI: IMLS # “Libraries as Community Hubs for Citizen Science.” $449,983. 11/2017-11/2020.
coPI: NSF AISL #1906998 “The Circuit: A Platform for Increasing Access to, Deepening and Researching Patterns of Family and Adult Participation in Informal Science.” $2,900,000. 9/2019-8/2024.
Subawardee: NOAA, “Citizen Science, Civics, and Resilient Communities.” $94,941. 10/2018-9/2021.
Subawardee: NASA and Citizen Science Association, “CitSciCon.” $31,000. 5/2021.
PI, National Institutes of Health, National Network of Libraries of Medicine, 15 UG4 LM012341-03. “Citizen Science Day in Libraries.” $72,314 2019.
PI, Schmidt Futures, “Making Citizen Science Tools Accessible.” $180,000 2017-2019.
PI, National Science Foundation, #1845241. “Practitioner Workshop for Deploying SciStarter Affiliate Tools To Support Strategic STEM Learning.” $74,990 2019.
EAGER: Exploring a Taxonomy for Citizen Science Tools Database
Award Number:1645382; Principal Investigator:Micah Lande; Co-Principal Investigator:Darlene Cavalier; Organization:Arizona State University;NSF Organization:CBET Start Date:08/15/2016; Award Amount:$100,000.00; Relevance:81.99;
I-Corps L: Leveraging Citizen Science Pathways To Connect Millions Of People With Citizen Science Tools
Award Number:1644554; Principal Investigator:Darlene Cavalier; Co-Principal Investigator:Micah Lande; Organization:Arizona State University;NSF Organization:TI Start Date:08/01/2016; Award Amount:$50,000.00; Relevance:68.7;
NSF50 and Find Out Why
Award Number:0002851; Principal Investigator:Darlene Cavalier; Co-Principal Investigator:Karin Render-Pham; Organization:ABC, Inc.;NSF Organization:LPA Start Date:10/01/1999; Award Amount:$1,500,000.00; Relevance:66.59;
Courses
2025 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| FIS 294 | Special Topics |
| FIS 294 | Special Topics |
| FIS 492 | Honors Directed Study |
2024 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| FIS 294 | Special Topics |
| FIS 294 | Special Topics |
| FIS 492 | Honors Directed Study |
2024 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| FIS 294 | Special Topics |
| FIS 294 | Special Topics |
2023 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| FIS 294 | Special Topics |
| FIS 294 | Special Topics |
2022 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| FIS 294 | Special Topics |
| FIS 294 | Special Topics |
2022 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| FIS 294 | Special Topics |
| FIS 294 | Special Topics |
2021 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| FIS 294 | Special Topics |
2021 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| FIS 294 | Special Topics |
Recipient: 2024 Pop Warner Youth Scholars Inspiration Award.
Recipient: 2024 Wagner Institute of Science annual award.
Recipient: 2022 Arizona State University President’s Medal for Social Embeddedness
October 2022 Ukrainian Library Conference, Ukraine Ministry of Science, 2nd place, “Crowd Favorite,” presentation, “Libraries as Community Hubs for Citizen Science
Shuttleworth Foundation Award Recipient: "bestowed to people with brilliant ideas."
Pop Warner Little Scholars, Inc, National Cheerleading Award: "for inspiring thousands of youth cheerleaders in positive ways."
Arizona State University, ASU Now, “ASU Researchers Shine at World’s Largest Science Meeting,” (February 2020)
Served on Data and Metadata Working Group: Citizen Science Association. Organized initial CSA workshop on data and metadata in citizen science. Board member.
Frequent Speaker: AAAS Annual Conference, Online Learning Consortium annual conference, Association of Public Land Grant Universities annual conference, dozens of others.
Director of programs that connect public engagement in science with Verizon corporate volunteers, Girl Scouts, K-12 and college, Osher Lifelong Learning (55+), 4H, and others facilitating community development among broader audiences.
Develop web tools for research and practice. Led the creation of globally-adopted tools to aggregate and share metadata on citizen science projects and embed them in media sources.
Contribute to the science of learning. Coauthored report from the National Academy of Sciences on Designing Citizen Science for Science Learning.
Broaden participation of girls and other underrepresented groups in science via Science Cheerleaders.. Created, in partnership with the Girl Scouts of USA, a national Think Like a Citizen Scientist journey through SciStarter in which girl scouts earn official badges.
2024-2028, Honorary Fellow, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at Southern Denmark University
2014-current, Professor of Practice, School for the Future of Innovation in Society at Arizona State University; Senior Global Futures Scientist, Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory; Consortium for Science, Policy and Outcomes
2010-current, Founder, SciStarter (“Amazon.com for Citizen Science,” Carl Zimmer/The New York Times), a website and start up that connects people with real science they can do
2010-current, coFounder, Expert and Citizen Assessment of Science and Technology (ECAST)
2008-current, Founder, Science Cheerleaders, 501c3 organization of 300 current and former pro cheerleaders pursuing STEM careers
2022-current, advisor, NSF RCN-UBE: The Undergraduate Student Experiences with Citizen Science (USE Cit Sci) Network to transform learning and broaden participation in science
2018-2020 Advisor, Fellow, National Geographic
2015-current, Advisor, Federal Community of Practice: Citizen Science and Crowdsourcing
2014-current, Advisory Board NSF-funded Twin Cities Public TV’s “SciGirls”
2018-2019, Advisor, Nature TV SpringLive
2017-2019, Committee, National Academy of Sciences, Designing Citizen Science to Enhance Science Learning
2016-2019 , appointed, EPA National Advisory Council for Environmental Policy and Technology
2015-2019, Chair, American Institute of Physics New Media Science Communications Award
2016-2017, Advisor, PBS Crowd and Cloud television and web series
2015-2018, Founding Board Member, Citizen Science Association
2002-2017 Senior Advisor, Special Projects Director, Kalmbach Publishing (Discover Magazine, Astronomy Magazine and Drones 360)
1994-2002 Executive Director and Senior Manager of Global Business Development, Walt Disney Publishing Worldwide. Led Disney Publishing’s largest signature program, The Discover Magazine Technology Awards
Recent talks:
10/2024 Keynote: University of Southern Denmark
04/2024 European Citizen Science Association
05/2023 Citizen Science Association
11/2023 AmeriCorps Day of Service
10/2023 International Conference - Open Science and Innovation in Ukraine (keynote)
06/2022 LIBER Annual Conference 2022 in Odense, Denmark (keynote)
04/2022 AUN-EEC Workshop: Citizen Science for Addressing UN SDGs in SEA (keynote)
02/20/22 Panelist: American Association of Geographers annual conference
02/2022 Presenter: American Association for the Advancement of Science annual conference
coeditor: 2025 special collection, Citizen Science Theory and Practice, American Association for Participatory Sciences: "Citizen Science in Libraries and Museums"
frequent reviewer
Association for Advancing Participatory Sciences
ASU Barrett Honors Thesis Advisor
Senior advisor, contributing editor Discover Magazine (worked for Discover in various roles since 1994) Advise on business development and content strategies. Authored articles featured in Discover’s Top 100 Science Stories; secured funding for and produced series of live events, web and broadcast video features, and full feature articles, in partnership with the National Science Foundation, the Weather Channel and NBC and others. Cohosted NSF web tv series with editor in chief of Discover. Conceptualized and produced series of Capitol Hill briefings and public panel discussions at venues including SynBerc, Yale, CalTech, GaTech, Franklin Institute, Exploratorium, etc. Previous work Walt Disney Global Publishing 1994-2002 Discover Magazine, Disney Publishing · Executive Director and Co-host –Discover Technology Awards. Disney Publishing’s largest signature event. Produced and managed awards program and launched ancillary programs including national TV show, gala event at Epcot and in NYC, several educational partnerships, government partnerships, public affairs and outreach, and special issue of Discover in which winners were featured. Helped create and launch spin off award programs including the NSF/Bayer/Columbus Foundation Awards, NAE’s Grand Challenges. Increased Awards revenue from ($125K) to $750K +. · Project Director Discover’s 25th Anniversary Celebrations Senior Manager, Global Business Development, Walt Disney Publishing 2000-2002 (confirming years) · Managed editorial, publishing and business teams to relaunch and redesign magazines including Disney Adventures. Corporate synergy representative and spokesperson for Disney Publishing Worldwide. Responsible for managing and guiding distributed staff.
2016-2018 Appointed to National Advisory Council for Environmental Policy and Technology (EPA); 2015-2018 inaugural board member, Citizen Science Association; 2014-2015 appointee to 15-member US Delegation to participate in the NSF-funded Belmont Forum E-Infrastructure and Data Management Knowledge Hub. 2014 Advisory Board NSF-funded Twin Cities Public TV’s “SciGirls”. 2014 Steering Committee, Association for Public Participation in Scientific Research. Advisor, NYU’s Center for Science and Progress. Steering Committee, Coalition for Public Understanding of Science. Advisor.
2010- present CEO and Founder SciStarter, LLC
2010- present Director and Founder Science Cheerleaders, Inc (501c3)
2002-2017 Senior Advisor, Special Projects Director, Kalmbach Publishing (Discover Magazine, Astronomy Magazine and Drones 360)
1994-2002 Executive Director and Senior Manager of Global Business Development, Walt Disney Publishing Worldwide. Led Disney Publishing’s largest signature program, The Discover Magazine Technology Awards