If the concept of "citizen journalism" makes you a little uneasy, how might you feel about "citizen science?" In either case, there's more going on in the world than just the professionals can handle in their normal workload.
Citizen scientist Sharman Apt Russell took her fascination with Western red bellied tiger beetles to the beetles' lair, to find out things about their life cycle previously unknown to science.
Her often humorous take on the process and the findings is contained in her book Diary Of A Citizen Scientist, from Oregon State University Press. The author joins us to give the spoken-word summation of her experiences.