COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT THROUGH K-16 PLACE-BASED CITIZEN SCIENCE RESEARCH PROJECTS FOR CANADIAN CORDILLERA ARRAY AND EON-ROSE

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Boggs ◽  
◽  
Kevin O'Connor ◽  
David W. Eaton ◽  
Hersh Gilbert
Keyword(s):  
Community Engagement ◽  
Citizen Science ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Canadian Cordillera ◽  
Research Projects

scholarly journals TrIAS, leveraging citizen science data to monitor invasive species in Belgium

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. e24749
Author(s):  
Quentin Groom ◽  
Tim Adriaens ◽  
Damiano Oldoni ◽  
Lien Reyserhove ◽  
Diederik Strubbe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Invasive Species ◽  
Alien Species ◽  
Citizen Science ◽  
Invasive Alien Species ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Open Science ◽  
Policy Support ◽  
Science Data ◽  
Common View ◽  
Indispensable Tool

Reducing the damage caused by invasive species requires a community approach informed by rapidly mobilized data. Even if local stakeholders work together, invasive species do not respect borders, and national, continental and global policies are required. Yet, in general, data on invasive species are slow to be mobilized, often of insufficient quality for their intended application and distributed among many stakeholders and their organizations, including scientists, land managers, and citizen scientists. The Belgian situation is typical. We struggle with the fragmentation of data sources and restrictions to data mobility. Nevertheless, there is a common view that the issue of invasive alien species needs to be addressed. In 2017 we launched the Tracking Invasive Alien Species (TrIAS) project, which envisages a future where alien species data are rapidly mobilized, the spread of exotic species is regularly monitored, and potential impacts and risks are rapidly evaluated in support of policy decisions (Vanderhoeven et al. 2017). TrIAS is building a seamless, data-driven workflow, from raw data to policy support documentation. TrIAS brings together 21 different stakeholder organizations that covering all organisms in the terrestrial, freshwater and marine environments. These organizations also include those involved in citizen science, research and wildlife management. TrIAS is an Open Science project and all the software, data and documentation are being shared openly (Groom et al. 2018). This means that the workflow can be reused as a whole or in part, either after the project or in different countries. We hope to prove that rapid data workflows are not only an indispensable tool in the control of invasive species, but also for integrating and motivating the citizens and organizations involved.

scholarly journals Student and faculty outcomes of undergraduate science research projects by geographically dispersed students

2013 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lawton Shaw ◽  
Dietmar Kennepohl
Keyword(s):  
Distance Education ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Undergraduate Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Local Area ◽  
Pass Rates ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Geographically Dispersed ◽  
Undergraduate Science ◽  
Research Students

<p>Senior undergraduate research projects are important components of most undergraduate science degrees. The delivery of such projects in a distance education format is challenging. Athabasca University (AU) science project courses allow distance education students to complete research project courses by working with research supervisors in their local area, coordinated at a distance by AU faculty. This paper presents demographics and course performance for 155 students over five years. Pass rates were similar to other distance education courses. Research students were surveyed by questionnaire, and external supervisors and AU faculty were interviewed, to examine the outcomes of these project courses for each group. Students reported high levels of satisfaction with the course, local supervisors, and faculty coordinators. Students also reported that the experience increased their interest in research, and the probability that they would pursue graduate or additional certification. Local supervisors and faculty affirmed that the purposes of project courses are to introduce the student to research, provide opportunity for students to use their cumulative knowledge, develop cognitive abilities, and independent thinking. The advantages and challenges associated with this course model are discussed.</p>

Three Frontiers for the Future of Biodiversity Research Using Citizen Science Data

BioScience ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Corey T Callaghan ◽  
Alistair G B Poore ◽  
Thomas Mesaglio ◽  
Angela T Moles ◽  
Shinichi Nakagawa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Citizen Science ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Single Species ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Biodiversity Data ◽  
Science Data ◽  
Biodiversity Research ◽  
Research Areas ◽  
The Future

Abstract Citizen science is fundamentally shifting the future of biodiversity research. But although citizen science observations are contributing an increasingly large proportion of biodiversity data, they only feature in a relatively small percentage of research papers on biodiversity. We provide our perspective on three frontiers of citizen science research, areas that we feel to date have had minimal scientific exploration but that we believe deserve greater attention as they present substantial opportunities for the future of biodiversity research: sampling the undersampled, capitalizing on citizen science's unique ability to sample poorly sampled taxa and regions of the world, reducing taxonomic and spatial biases in global biodiversity data sets; estimating abundance and density in space and time, develop techniques to derive taxon-specific densities from presence or absence and presence-only data; and capitalizing on secondary data collection, moving beyond data on the occurrence of single species and gain further understanding of ecological interactions among species or habitats. The contribution of citizen science to understanding the important biodiversity questions of our time should be more fully realized.

scholarly journals Engaged Citizen Social Science or the public participation in social science research

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (06) ◽  
pp. A06
Author(s):  
Rita Campos ◽  
José Monteiro ◽  
Cláudia Carvalho
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Citizen Science ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Limited Participation ◽  
The Public ◽  
Social Sciences And Humanities ◽  
Research Institution ◽  
Future Project

Acknowledging the consolidation of citizen science, this paper aims to foster a collective debate on two visible gaps of the field. First, how to overcome the limited participation of social sciences and humanities in the broader field of citizen science, still dominated by natural sciences. Second, how to develop a citizen social science that allows for an active participation of citizens and for a critical engagement with contemporary societies. The authors coordinate a state-sponsored program of scientific dissemination within a Portuguese research institution and this paper intends to lay the groundwork for a future project of Citizen Social Science based on a new concept of “engaged citizen social science”.

scholarly journals Citizen Science in Vegetable Garden Cultivar Evaluation in Tennessee

Horticulturae ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (11) ◽  
pp. 422
Author(s):  
Virginia R. Sykes ◽  
Natalie R. Bumgarner ◽  
Stefanie Brooke Keadle ◽  
Aleksandra Wilson ◽  
Francisco Palacios
Keyword(s):  
Citizen Science ◽  
Food Production ◽  
Community Gardens ◽  
Science Research ◽  
The United States ◽  
Quality Data ◽  
Home Garden ◽  
Trial Management ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Research Faculty

Edible food production is a growing area of horticultural interest that can engage multiple generations of rural to urban residents with varying levels of experience. Residential or community garden food production can provide many benefits, including the production of healthy produce, establishment of community or social connections, and increased physical activity. Regardless of experience, food gardeners are interested in growing crops and cultivars well-suited to their region and which provide both productivity and crop quality. This means that cultivar selection is a common question for gardeners. However, formal cultivar evaluation is relatively rare in the non-commercial food production sector due to the number of cultivars, the challenges of replicated trial management, and the scarcity of public researchers focused on consumer horticulture. This limits the information available to support new gardeners, which lowers the chances of overall success including high-quality harvests. Such crop and variety selection questions are common for Extension personnel in the United States as well as many others who work with gardeners. Even with this high level of interest, funding for consumer garden trials is limited and the cost of replicated trials across various geographical sites is high. To fill this gap in research and address the need for high-quality data to support education, University of Tennessee Extension and research faculty have developed a citizen science approach called the Home Garden Variety Trial (HGVT) program. The HGVT is a collaborative effort between Extension and research faculty and educators, who select trials, provide seeds, and compile data, and citizen scientists around the state, who conduct the trials using their usual gardening practices in their own home or community gardens. Beginning in 2017, the collaborators have conducted five years of research involving over 450 individual gardeners in more than half of the counties in Tennessee. The HGVT is a novel and effective tool to introduce gardeners to new crops and cultivars while providing previously unavailable data to researchers. Together, researchers and home gardeners collect and compile data that supports residential and community food production success while engaging new and experienced gardeners in participatory science research.

scholarly journals Citizen Science in Schools: Predictors and Outcomes of Participating in Voluntary Political Research

SAGE Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 215824402110164
Author(s):  
Raffael Heiss ◽  
Desirée Schmuck ◽  
Jörg Matthes ◽  
Carolin Eicher
Keyword(s):  
Citizen Science ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Political Interest ◽  
The Past ◽  
Youth Education ◽  
Science Efficacy ◽  
Science School ◽  
Key Drivers ◽  
External Reward ◽  
Reward Motivation

Citizen science research has been rapidly expanding in the past years and has become a popular approach in youth education. We investigated key drivers of youth participation in a citizen social science school project and the effects of participation on scientific and topic-related (i.e., political) interest and efficacy. Findings suggest that females, more politically and scientifically interested and more scientifically efficacious adolescents were more motivated to learn from the project. Science efficacy was also positively related to external reward motivation (i.e., winning an award). Both learning and external reward motivation increased the likelihood of participation. Pre- and post-measurement further indicated that participation in the project slightly increased science interest, but not science efficacy. However, it did increase both political interest and efficacy. Furthermore, our data revealed a decrease in science efficacy and interest in those who did not participate in the project, indicating an increasing gap in adolescents’ scientific involvement.

scholarly journals Citizen Science and Youth Audiences: Educational Outcomes of the Monarch Larva Monitoring Project

2008 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dina L. Kountoupes ◽  
Karen Oberhauser
Keyword(s):  
Citizen Science ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Data Entry ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Monarch Butterfly ◽  
The United States ◽  
Promising Practices ◽  
University Of Minnesota ◽  
Natural Settings ◽  
The University

Citizen science projects in which members of the public participate in large scale science research programs are excellent ways for universities to engage the broader community in authentic science research. The Monarch Larva Monitoring Project (MLMP) is such a project. It involves hundreds of individuals throughout the United States and southern Canada in a study of monarch butterfly distribution and abundance. This program, run by faculty, graduate students, and staff at the University of Minnesota, provides research opportunities for volunteer monitors. We used mixed methods to understand contexts, outcomes, and promising practices for engaging youth in this project. Slightly over a third of our adult volunteers engaged youth in monitoring activities. They reported that the youth were successful at and enjoyed project activities, with the exception of data entry. Adults innovations increased the success and educational value of the project for children without compromising data integrity. Many adults engaged in extension activities, including independent research that built on their monitoring observations. This project provides an excellent forum for science and environmental education through investigation, direct and long-term interactions with natural settings, and data analysis.

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