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LEANING over the water’s edge, I spot what I am looking for. I take out my tweezers and tug, pulling off a small piece of algae and transferring it into a plastic tube. I top my sample off with a few drops of pond water, squeezed up through a little pipette.

I am one of a growing number of international volunteers helping to monitor the health of the environment by sampling diverse aquatic ecosystems through the Algal Bloom Monitoring project, a citizen science initiative run by the US-based (OFC).

Before I head home, I snap a few photos of the pond and write down some observations, prompted by the . Today, I note that the algae appear as “rooted plants” and that the water smells “leafy”. Holding my sample up towards the sky, I also record that the water looks clear.

Back home, I dip a pH strip into my sample and record the pH as a neutral 7, based on the colour change I observe. Afterwards, it takes me less than 5 minutes to convert my smartphone into a microscope using a , a foldable microscope attachment made largely of cardboard, which I use to take a closer look at the algae I have collected. I zoom in and snap some photos to complete my data collection, before submitting my observations via the OFC’s website.

All the equipment I used fitted into an A4-sized envelope and was sent to me by post after I signed up. If you are keen to get involved, you can register your interest via the . The project is open to groups, including schools, as well as solo algae enthusiasts like me.

Participants are also sent a portable spectroscope, which can determine the density of algae in a sample based on the way light travels through it. This helps with the detection of algal blooms, algae that have become overgrown and can harm wildlife by depleting oxygen from the water, in some cases leading to an accumulation of toxins. There is evidence that these harmful algal blooms are becoming more common in freshwater lakes worldwide.

That is all the more reason why observations collected and submitted by volunteers are helpful for researchers, including Ikbal Choudhury and Ankita Jha at the OFC, as they enable them to monitor the health of aquatic ecosystems around the world.

Data collected by volunteers in southern India this year showed an increased abundance of algae in water samples, starting in March and continuing through the summer months. This trend isn’t unexpected, but it is reassuring to Choudhury and Jha because it suggests the information collected through the project so far is valid, and that it could also help to detect longer-term trends driven by factors such as pollution.

Layal Liverpool is a science journalist based in Berlin. She believes everyone can be a scientist, including you. @layallivs