Citizen science: a new approach to advance ecology, education, and conservation

Abstract

Citizen science has a long history in the ecological sciences and has made substantial contributions to science, education, and society. Developments in information technology during the last few decades have created new opportunities for citizen science to engage ever larger audiences of volunteers to help address some of ecology's most pressing issues, such as global environmental change. Using online tools, volunteers can find projects that match their interests and learn the skills and protocols required to develop questions, collect data, submit data, and help process and analyze data online. Citizen science has become increasingly important for its ability to engage large numbers of volunteers to generate observations at scales or resolutions unattainable by individual researchers. As a coupled natural and human approach, citizen science can also help researchers access local knowledge and implement conservation projects that might be impossible otherwise. In Japan, however, the value of citizen science to science and society is still underappreciated. Here we present case studies of citizen science in Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom, and describe how citizen science is used to tackle key questions in ecology and conservation, including spatial and macro-ecology, management of threatened and invasive species, and monitoring of biodiversity. We also discuss the importance of data quality, volunteer recruitment, program evaluation, and the integration of science and human systems in citizen science projects. Finally, we outline some of the primary challenges facing citizen science and its future.

Visual Representations of Radiation Risk and the Question of Public (Mis-)Trust in Post-Fukushima Japan

“…The individual reception and evaluation of such information, however, requires a willingness to acquire some basic technical and scientific knowledge of how to analyze and interpret radiation exposure data. The spread and consolidation of citizen science represents a big individual and structural challenge because of a lack of financial resources for most projects, especially in Japan, and because the willingness of people to participate is not very strong [31]. Hultquist and Cervone [87] suggest the need for closer collaboration or even a merger of state-run and citizen-centered monitoring systems.…”

“…The article then identifies different sources of public mistrust in the context of information seeking and sharing and addresses this issue as part of the larger question of institutionalized information processes in Japan. This also includes a prudent assessment of the increasing importance of the 'enlightening emancipatory power' of citizen science [29][30][31] in Japan, a society where policy issues still tend to be tackled and solved in a largely technocratic, paternalistic, top-down manner. As there has been a growing sense of political mistrust, disaffection with democratic institutions has also been spreading [32,33].…”

Shared visions: can community conservation projects’ outcomes inform on their likely contributions to national biodiversity goals?

“…More recently, PPM has meant a shift in focus away from whether or not outputs are being delivered, to the harder question of how those outputs contribute to high-level system outcomes and whether the approach taken is the most efficient and effective way to achieve those outcomes (Schacter 2002;Mascia et al 2014). Although aimed initially at government departments and organisations, performance measurement can be relatively simple, inexpensive and applied readily to local, community-based projects across a range of scales (Kobori et al 2016). Simply by setting clear goals and checking progress towards them, funded projects can demonstrate to investors that they are making a difference where it matters and that funds have been spent wisely.…”

Linee Guida per il monitoraggio dei coleotteri saproxilici protetti in Europa

“…In questo modo "scienziati e pubblico lavorano insieme su tematiche emergenti della ricerca in campo ambientale" (Kobori et al 2016). La CS fa riferimento a un ampio ventaglio di attività svolte con il contributo del pubblico nelle diverse fasi della ricerca, dalla sua impostazione teorica alla raccolta diretta dei dati (Bonney et al 2009) fino alle elaborazioni finali (Raddick et al 2010) per poi arrivare alle attività di diffusione ed educazione (Wiggins e Crowston 2011).…”

“…La CS fa riferimento a un ampio ventaglio di attività svolte con il contributo del pubblico nelle diverse fasi della ricerca, dalla sua impostazione teorica alla raccolta diretta dei dati (Bonney et al 2009) fino alle elaborazioni finali (Raddick et al 2010) per poi arrivare alle attività di diffusione ed educazione (Wiggins e Crowston 2011). La CS ha visto una crescita impetuosa nel corso degli ultimi anni, con più di 500 progetti in lingua inglese (Kobori et al 2016) e con un numero significativo di banche dati associate (ad esempio, CitizenScience.org, SciStarter.com). Anche il numero di articoli scientifici diffusione delle conoscenze al grande pubblico sugli habitat e la biologia delle specie target, nonché sulle minacce che le riguardano; (ii) accrescere la consapevolezza del grande pubblico sulle tematiche ecologiche relative agli insetti; (iii) incrementare le conoscenze faunistiche con mappatura della distribuzione delle specie target.…”