During April's total solar eclipse across North America, 528 people—from 8-year-olds to octogenarians—paused to watch the sky and record what animals did when the sun disappeared. What started as a simple citizen science project became something far more profound: a window into how awe reshapes our relationship with science itself.
The study, published May 27 in People and Nature, reveals that participatory science activities tied to awe-inspiring natural events create measurable shifts in how people see themselves as scientists. When people feel genuinely moved by nature while contributing observations to real research, they report stronger "science identity"—a sense that science is part of who they are—and greater "science belonging," the feeling that they fit in when doing science-related work.
The researchers from North Carolina State University, led by psychologist Kelly Lynn Mulvey, worked with volunteers of all ages to track animal behavior before, during, and after totality. Participants received online training in identifying animal behaviors, but they weren't experts. Yet something remarkable happened: those who experienced the full totality reported significantly greater awe than those who saw only a partial eclipse. And crucially, the more awe people felt, the more their science identity and sense of belonging increased.
Perhaps most striking was what happened with the animal observations themselves. Participants who recorded unusual animal behavior during the eclipse—even if they didn't realize at the time that the behavior was unusual—reported even greater awe. The eclipse transformed an ordinary act of observation into something transcendent, and that transcendence deepened their connection to science.
"Even a single experience can lead to meaningful changes in how you identify with science and whether you feel like you belong when engaging with science," Mulvey says. What makes this finding especially significant is that it required no formal training programs, no long-term commitments, no gatekeeping. A few hours under a darkened sky were enough.
The impact cut across generations and backgrounds. Everyone from small children to older adults felt the shift. Caren Cooper, a professor of forestry at NC State and co-author of the study, emphasizes that participatory science has already led to discoveries that professional scientists couldn't have made alone. But now researchers understand something deeper: when people contribute to science through experiences that move them—experiences that inspire genuine awe—they don't just change what science knows. They change themselves.
The implications extend far beyond eclipses. Mulvey notes that small moments of awe happen constantly in our own neighborhoods. A sudden storm. A bird migration. A night sky unpolluted by light. Thousands of participatory science projects are already underway on platforms like SciStarter, waiting for ordinary people to become part of the scientific process. The message is clear: science belonging isn't reserved for those with degrees or credentials. It emerges when curiosity meets wonder, when observation becomes part of experiencing something larger than ourselves.