For its part, Cornell—both the Laboratory of Ornithology and the university’s academic departments—is one of the leading users and promoters of citizen science. Cornell’s researchers have been using volunteers in studies to monitor birds, as well as in other research projects, since the 1960s, Shirk says. The name “citizen science,” however, was not used by Cornell researchers until the 1990s. Current citizen-science projects at Cornell include studies of diseases in house finches, urban bird surveys, and Project Feeder Watch.