The UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center has launched a smartphone app called Citizen Science Tahoe to encourage beach-goers to let scientists know what they see.

The goal is to better understand conditions around the lake.

The app may be download at CitizenScienceTahoe.org. It was created by Shahzeb Khan, a UC Davis freshman studying computer science.

Citizen scientists may enter what they see at the beach, from algae to wildlife — the good and the bad. Each observation automatically records the user’s location and the date and time. Users may also add photos and comments.