Head to Zooniverse and you’ll find ordinary people helping scientists to identify galaxies, explore historical records, or in the case of the latest project, spot chimpanzees.

Welcome to the world’s largest people-powered research platform, relying on volunteers around the world to assist expert researchers in the disciplines of science and the humanities.

Aiming to better understand human evolution, Chimp & See invites users to be a part of the story, learning how to find and identify different species, contributing to a greater understanding of how we got here and where we’re headed – through videos.

Over 7,000 hours of footage is gathered by 18.400 volunteers and collaborators from 15 countries across Africa. A field guide gives users the knowledge needed to identify any animal they see (not just chimpanzees), tag it, comment and post to the user forum. They can also chat with other volunteers about what they have discovered. In particular the study focuses on primates who have evolved to use tools and display human behaviour, as scientists believe they may hold the key to understanding what helped humans make the evolutionary leap from primates.

With Chimp & See the globally curious can play a crucial role in enabling scientists to analyse the data, improve records of biodiversity and gain new insights into animal behaviour.