Program takes citizen scientists out to sea

As waves rocked the boat, a group of citizen scientists watched lines take shape on a computer screen.

The blue, red and black lines represented temperature, salinity and depth, which were measured by a device called a CTD as it was lowered into the water from the back of the boat.

The group aboard Western Washington University’s research vessel Magister on Aug. 1 was getting a look at how scientists gather data used to study the marine environment.