scholarly journals Using citizen science for early detection of tree pests and diseases: perceptions of professional and public participants

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nidhi Gupta ◽  
David D. Slawson ◽  
Andy J. Moffat
Keyword(s):  
Early Detection ◽  
Citizen Science ◽  
Plant Protection ◽  
Health Surveillance ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Tree Health ◽  
The Public ◽  
Pests And Diseases ◽  
And Training

AbstractEarly detection of new tree pests and diseases is a vital element of national strategies to prevent their establishment and spread into a country or region, based on the rationale that it increases the chances of successful eradication. Given the limited capacity and financial resources of most national plant protection authorities, the use of public participants has recently been explored in a range of citizen science projects for its ability to supplement official surveillance. However, little is known about the motivations, expectations and experiences of members of the public involved in such activities and even less about the views of professionals and officials. In this study, evidence was obtained from structured interviews with professionals and volunteers engaged in five projects related to tree health surveillance. Some differences were noted between the two groups with a greater focus on personal aspects by members of the public and on strategic and institutional aspects by professionals. A striking feature was the agreement of the two groups that the projects had met or exceeded their expectations, and provided the proof of concept that tree health surveillance capacity can be increased by engaging and training citizens. Many participants shared concerns about the importance of securing both project longevity and volunteer participation over the long term. The paper discusses ways in which the motivations of tree health surveillance participants can be sustained over long periods with particular attention to recognition and reward.

scholarly journals Transference of Citizen Science Program Impacts: A Theory Grounded in Public Participation in Scientific Research

Diversity ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 339
Author(s):  
Louise I. Lynch-O’Brien ◽  
Wayne A. Babchuk ◽  
Jenny M. Dauer ◽  
Tiffany Heng-Moss ◽  
Doug Golick
Keyword(s):  
Citizen Science ◽  
Social Process ◽  
Informal Science Education ◽  
Constructivist Grounded Theory ◽  
Science Program ◽  
Program Leaders ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Social ◽  
Added Benefit

Citizen science is known for increasing the geographic, spatial, and temporal scale from which scientists can gather data. It is championed for its potential to provide experiential learning opportunities to the public. Documentation of educational outcomes and benefits for citizen scientists continues to grow. This study proposes an added benefit of these collaborations: the transference of program impacts to individuals outside of the program. The experiences of fifteen citizen scientists in entomology citizen science programs were analyzed using a constructivist grounded theory methodology. We propose the substantive-level theory of transference to describe the social process by which the educational and attitudinal impacts intended by program leaders for the program participants are filtered by citizen scientists and transferred to others. This process involves individual and external phases, each with associated actions. Transference occurred in participants who had maintained a long-term interest in nature, joined a citizen science program, shared science knowledge and experiences, acquired an expert role to others, and influenced change in others. Transference has implications for how citizen scientists are perceived by professional communities, understanding of the broader impacts and contributions of citizen science to wicked problems, program evaluation, and the design of these programs as informal science education opportunities.

scholarly journals Characteristics of learning and training of elite athletics in Brazil: the perspective of experienced coaches

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
André Felipe Caregnato ◽  
Mayara Torres Ordonhes ◽  
Marcelo Moraes Silva ◽  
Fernando Renato Cavichiolli
Keyword(s):  
Olympic Games ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Training Process ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Work Model ◽  
Teaching Learning ◽  
Elite Athletics ◽  
And Training ◽  
The Ideal

The present study sought to verify the perspective of the coaches regarding the teaching, learning and training process in Brazilian Athletics. Semi-structured interviews were applied to six Brazilian athletics coaches with participation in the Olympic Games. From the interviews, two categories were defined: formation and development of athletes; talent and long-term training. About the age indicated to start in athletics, the coaches reported that the ideal (f = 56.90%) is that the athlete starts in the sport in the youth. However, they chose not to stipulate a single age group to start in the sport. Characteristics that induce the organization of a work model in athletics (f= 26.14%) were frequent in the speeches. There was a lack of specific parameters on how the profession of coaching should be exercised - in this case athletics - it is necessary to have structures that enable the development of the coach’s career.  

scholarly journals The role of passive surveillance and citizen science in plant health

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan Brown ◽  
Ana Pérez-Sierra ◽  
Peter Crow ◽  
Stephen Parnell
Keyword(s):  
Citizen Science ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Control Programme ◽  
Plant Health ◽  
Passive Surveillance ◽  
Tree Health ◽  
Pests And Diseases ◽  
Health Authorities ◽  
Surveillance Programs

Abstract The early detection of plant pests and diseases is vital to the success of any eradication or control programme, but the resources for surveillance are often limited. Plant health authorities can however make use of observations from individuals and stakeholder groups who are monitoring for signs of ill health. Volunteered data is most often discussed in relation to citizen science groups, however these groups are only part of a wider network of professional agents, land-users and owners who can all contribute to significantly increase surveillance efforts through “passive surveillance”. These ad-hoc reports represent chance observations by individuals who may not necessarily be looking for signs of pests and diseases when they are discovered. Passive surveillance contributes vital observations in support of national and international surveillance programs, detecting potentially unknown issues in the wider landscape, beyond points of entry and the plant trade. This review sets out to describe various forms of passive surveillance, identify analytical methods that can be applied to these “messy” unstructured data, and indicate how new programs can be established and maintained. Case studies discuss two tree health projects from Great Britain (TreeAlert and Observatree) to illustrate the challenges and successes of existing passive surveillance programmes. When analysing passive surveillance reports it is important to understand the observers’ probability to detect and report each plant health issue, which will vary depending on how distinctive the symptoms are and the experience of the observer. It is also vital to assess how representative the reports are and whether they occur more frequently in certain locations. Methods are increasingly available to predict species distributions from large datasets, but more work is needed to understand how these apply to rare events such as new introductions. One solution for general surveillance is to develop and maintain a network of tree health volunteers, but this requires a large investment in training, feedback and engagement to maintain motivation. There are already many working examples of passive surveillance programmes and the suite of options to interpret the resulting datasets is growing rapidly.

scholarly journals Brief communication: Appropriate messaging is critical for effective earthquake early warning systems

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meng Zhang ◽  
Xue Qiao ◽  
Barnabas C. Seyler ◽  
Baofeng Di ◽  
Yuan Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Early Warning ◽  
Communication Channels ◽  
Early Warning Systems ◽  
Earthquake Early Warning ◽  
Warning Systems ◽  
The Public ◽  
Earthquake Early Warning Systems ◽  
Great Progress ◽  
And Training

Abstract. The earthquake early warning systems (EEWSs) in China have achieved great progress, with warning alerts being successfully delivered to the public in some regions. We examined the performance of the EEWS in China's Sichuan Province during the 2019 Changning Earthquake. Although its technical effectiveness was tested with the first alert released 10 s after the earthquake, we found that a big gap existed between the EEWS's message and the public's response. We highlight the importance of EEWS alert effectiveness and public participation for long-term resiliency, such as delivering useful alert messages through appropriate communication channels and training people to understand and properly respond.

scholarly journals Extent of Integration in Agriculture Supply Chain: The Public Sector Stakeholders perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 1319-1334
Author(s):  
Nadir Munir Hassan ◽  
Muhammad Nauman Abbasi
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Supply Chain Integration ◽  
Supply Chain Performance ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
The Public ◽  
Agriculture Sector ◽  
Reasonable Evidence ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose: Integrating network factors (i.e. Actors, Activities, and Resources), help organizations in achieving superior supply chain performance. Despite reasonable evidence on positive relationship between SCI and SCP, there exists sufficient contradiction on universal integration of chains. This paper is a qualitative exploratory study, which based on the network perspective intends to explore the current and required levels of supply chain integration among actors, activities, and resources in the agriculture supply chain of Pakistan. Design/Methodology/Approach: The data was collected through in depth semi-structured interviews from public sector stake holders of agriculture sector (i.e. From Thirteen wings of Ministry of Agriculture) across Pakistan. The current and required extent of supply chain integration was measured at three levels, i.e. strategic (long-term), tactical (medium-term) and operational (short-term) as suggested by (Childerhouse & Towill, 2011). Findings: The research results indicate that the relationship between supply chain integration and supply chain performance is a contextual phenomenon and significantly varies among Network factors. This study and its findings are expected to add into the literature of supply chain integration and its impact on supply chain performance.

scholarly journals Islamic Corporate Social Responsibility (ICSR) disclosure and Islamic Banks (IBs) performance: The application of stakeholder theory from Islamic perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-86
Author(s):  
Ichsan Setiyo Budi
Keyword(s):  
Ethical Behavior ◽  
Behavior Management ◽  
Islamic Banks ◽  
Test Results ◽  
Services Research ◽  
The Public ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
Positive Effect ◽  
And Training

This study aims to examine the effect of ICSR disclosure on the performance of IBs in Indonesia. Disclosures are prepared based on AAOIFI standards and previous researches then formed a disclosure index, while the performance of IBs is compiled from financial performances: ROA, ROE, and productivity performances which are formed into variables are formed by factor analysis. The samples of this research are 12 IBs from 2008 until 2019. Several IBs that had not yet been established in 2008 had been observed since the establishment of the banks until 2019, from this, it is obtained 121 observations. The test results show that all indicators of ICSR disclosure consisting of eight indicators: sharia compliance, ethical behavior, management, human resources, environment, social activities, products and services, research and development, and training have a positive effect on the performance of IBs. This provides an understanding that all of the disclosure indicators provide a good image or reputation to the public, thereby generating trust and in the long-term improving the performance of IBs.

scholarly journals EU-Citizen.Science: A Platform for Mainstreaming Citizen Science and Open Science in Europe

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 136-149
Author(s):  
Katherin Wagenknecht ◽  
Tim Woods ◽  
Francisco García Sanz ◽  
Margaret Gold ◽  
Anne Bowser ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Citizen Science ◽  
Data Model ◽  
Open Science ◽  
Observation Data ◽  
The Public ◽  
Metadata Model ◽  
Training Materials ◽  
Different Types ◽  
And Training ◽  
The Eu

Citizen Science (CS) is a prominent field of application for Open Science (OS), and the two have strong synergies, such as: advocating for the data and metadata generated through science to be made publicly available [ 1 ]; supporting more equitable collaboration between different types of scientists and citizens; and facilitating knowledge transfer to a wider range of audiences [ 2 ]. While primarily targeted at CS, the EU-Citizen. Science platform can also support OS. One of its key functions is to act as a knowledge hub to aggregate, disseminate and promote experience and know-how; for example, by profiling CS projects and collecting tools, resources and training materials relevant to both fields. To do this, the platform has developed an information architecture that incorporates the public participation in scientific research (PPSR)—Common Conceptual Model ① . This model consists of the Project Metadata Model, the Dataset Metadata Model and the Observation Data Model, which were specifically developed for CS initiatives. By implementing these, the platform will strengthen the interoperating arrangements that exist between other, similar platforms (e.g., BioCollect and SciStarter) to ensure that CS and OS continue to grow globally in terms of participants, impact and fields of application.

Exploring How Culture of Excellence is Personified by Mathematics Teachers in the Public Schools

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 88-94
Author(s):  
Jahfet Nabayra ◽  
Nabayra Liza Jean
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Mathematics Education ◽  
Mathematics Teachers ◽  
Professional Growth ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
State University ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
The Public ◽  
Basic Qualitative Study ◽  
And Training

This basic qualitative study aimed to describe how the culture of excellence is being personified by mathematics teachers who were scholar graduates of a certain state university in the Western Visayas region in the Philippines. Eight public school mathematics teachers were included in the study purposively. The researcher utilized semi-structured interviews in gathering the data. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the qualitative data. Findings revealed that mathematics teachers personified the culture of excellence in mathematics education by integrating different strategies in teaching mathematics, being passionate and dedicated, and by pursuing continuous professional growth.  In addition, they have manifested excellence in mathematics education through the following: conducted action researches in mathematics education, attended various seminars and training, actively involved in different committees and organizations in and out of school, and received recognition as winners and coaches in different math-related and non-math related activities.

scholarly journals Perceptions of Biosecurity-Based Accreditation in the Plant Trade: A UK Example

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 1741
Author(s):  
Mariella Marzano ◽  
Michael Dunn ◽  
Sarah Green
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Plant Health ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Tree Health ◽  
Growing Media ◽  
Pests And Diseases ◽  
Major Threat ◽  
Biosecurity Practices ◽  
Plant Biosecurity

It is widely acknowledged that a major threat to tree health biosecurity comes from trade, particularly through the importation of containerised live plants and associated growing media. Nurseries can collectively play a key role in mitigating pests and diseases through attention to their daily practices (e.g., procuring plants, storage and management). More widespread adoption of best practices in the sector could be promoted through the introduction of a UK-wide accreditation scheme. However, the success of such a scheme would depend not only on its uptake by nurseries but also on the attitudes of key consumers in the plant supply chain. To date, the perspectives of the nursery sector on the feasibility of plant biosecurity, as well as the sensitivity of these sectors to consumer opinion, have remained under-researched. Using the COM-B [Capability, Opportunity, Motivation—Behaviour] model as a framework, we draw on qualitative results to assess the appetite for a hypothetical accreditation scheme amongst UK nurseries and the capability, opportunities and motivations to enhance their biosecurity practices. Nineteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with plant nurseries and 22 with their consumers. Overall a plant health accreditation scheme should have actions that are: (1) viable within the confines of the site and supply chain; (2) affordable where the benefits of changes/improvements outweigh the costs; (3) beneficial in that they promote biosecurity; (4) attractive to consumers looking to purchase products from accredited nurseries; (5) fair and inclusive where everyone has responsibility for biosecurity; (6) transparent with the scheme involving a strong monitoring and auditing component. This study provides important insights that will feed into the development of plant biosecurity-focussed accreditation or certification.

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