scholarly journals Participatory Monitoring—A Citizen Science Approach for Coastal Environments

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula Kasten ◽  
Stuart R. Jenkins ◽  
Ronaldo A. Christofoletti

In this article the authors share their experiences, results, and lessons learned during the creation of a coastal biodiversity participatory monitoring initiative. Throughout 2019, we delivered five training workshops to 51 citizen scientists. Data collected by the citizens scientists were validated by checking its similarities against that gathered by specialists. High similarity values were found, indicating that, if proper training is provided, there is a great potential for citizen scientists to contribute biodiversity data with high value. During this process a certain level of variation in data produced by specialists was found, drawing attention to the need for prior alignment among specialists who may offer training for citizens. In addition, despite overall similar results between specialists and participants, some differences emerged in particular parts of the habitat; for example, the bivalve zones presented higher complexity and hence greater challenge. Identifying key challenges for participants is key to developing appropriate citizen science protocols. Here it is provided preliminary evidence that supports the use of the monitoring protocol to obtain biodiversity data gathered by citizen scientists, assuring its scientific quality. Enhancing participation by the community and specialists is key to further validate the approach and to effectively expand such protocols, enhancing the level of biodiversity data collection. In order to promote participation, and maintain citizen scientist engagement in the initiative, it is recommended the development of new investigations that assess the interests and motivations of the public to take part. It is also fundamentally important to have an effective strategy to communicate the results of participants’ monitoring and their applicability to local and global issues, thus maximizing the continuity of engagement of citizen scientists.

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ofer Arazy ◽  
Dan Malkinson

Citizen science, whereby ordinary citizens participate in scientific endeavors, is widely used for biodiversity monitoring, most commonly by relying on unstructured monitoring approaches. Notwithstanding the potential of unstructured citizen science to engage the public and collect large amounts of biodiversity data, observers’ considerations regarding what, where and when to monitor result in biases in the aggregate database, thus impeding the ability to draw conclusions about trends in species’ spatio-temporal distribution. Hence, the goal of this study is to enhance our understanding of observer-based biases in citizen science for biodiversity monitoring. Toward this goals we: (a) develop a conceptual framework of observers’ decision-making process along the steps of monitor – > record and share, identifying the considerations that take place at each step, specifically highlighting the factors that influence the decisions of whether to record an observation (b) propose an approach for operationalizing the framework using a targeted and focused questionnaire, which gauges observers’ preferences and behavior throughout the decision-making steps, and (c) illustrate the questionnaire’s ability to capture the factors driving observer-based biases by employing data from a local project on the iNaturalist platform. Our discussion highlights the paper’s theoretical contributions and proposes ways in which our approach for semi-structuring unstructured citizen science data could be used to mitigate observer-based biases, potentially making the collected biodiversity data usable for scientific and regulatory purposes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (06) ◽  
pp. A02
Author(s):  
Artemis Skarlatidou ◽  
Mordechai Haklay

Positioning citizen science within the broader historical public engagement framework demonstrates how it has the potential to effectively tackle research and innovation issues. Citizen science approaches have their own challenges, which need to be considered in order to achieve this aim and contribute to wider and deeper public engagement. However, programme evaluations, which discuss lessons learned in engaging the public and other stakeholders with science are rare. To address this gap, we present the H2020-funded DITOs project and discuss the use of logic models in citizen science. We share the project’s assumptions, design considerations for deeper engagement and its impact pathways demonstrating how logic models can be utilised in citizen science to monitor programme effectiveness and for their successful implementation. We hope that this work will inspire citizen science practitioners to use similar tools and by doing so, share their experiences and potential barriers. This knowledge is essential for improving the way citizen science is currently practiced and its impacts to both science and society.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. e25298
Author(s):  
Siobhan Leachman

The Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) provides open access to over 54 million pages of biodiversity literature. Much of this literature is either in the public domain or is licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons framework. Anyone can therefore freely reuse much of the information and data provided by BHL. This presentation will outline how the work of a citizen scientist using BHL content might benefit research scientists. It will discuss how a citizen scientist can reuse and link BHL literature and data in Wikipedia and Wikidata. It will explain the research efficiencies that can be obtained through this reuse and linking, for example through the consolidation of database identifiers. The presentation will outline the subsequent reuse of the BHL data added to Wikipedia and Wikidata by the internet search engine Google. It will discuss an example of the linking of this information in the citizen science observation platform iNaturalist. The presentation will explain how BHL, as a result of its open reuse licensing of information and data, helps in the creation of more accurate citizen science generated biodiversity data and assists with the wider and more effective dissemination of biodiversity information.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Мария Григорьевна Алпатова ◽  
Мария Игоревна Щеглова ◽  
Elmira Kalybaevna Adil’bekova ◽  
Nuradin Alibaev ◽  
Arunas Svitojus

The conference is a major international forum for analyzing and discussing trends and approaches in research in the field of basic science and applied research. We provide a platform for discussions on innovative, theoretical and empirical research. The form of the conference: in absentia, without specifying the form in the collection of articles. Working languages: Russian, English Doctors and candidates of science, scientists, specialists of various profiles and directions, applicants for academic degrees, teachers, graduate students, undergraduates, students are invited to participate in the conference. There is one blind verification process in the journal. All articles will be initially evaluated by the editor for compliance with the journal. Manuscripts that are considered appropriate are then usually sent to at least two independent peer reviewers to assess the scientific quality of the article. The editor is responsible for the final decision on whether to accept or reject the article. The editor's decision is final. The main criterion used in assessing the manuscript submitted to the journal is: uniqueness or innovation in the work from the point of view of the methodology being developed and / or its application to a problem of particular importance in the public sector or service sector and / or the setting in which the efforts, for example, in the developing region of the world. That is, the very model / methodology, application and context of problems, at least one of them must be unique and important. Additional criteria considered in the consideration of the submitted document are its accuracy, organization / presentation (ie logical flow) and recording quality.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Изабелла Станиславовна Чибисова ◽  
Диана Ильгизаровна Шарипова ◽  
Альфия Галиевна Зулькарнаева ◽  
Ксения Александровна Дулова ◽  
Садег Амирзадеган ◽  
...  

The conference is a major international forum for analyzing and discussing trends and approaches in research in the field of basic science and applied research. We provide a platform for discussions on innovative, theoretical and empirical research. The form of the conference: in absentia, without specifying the form in the collection of articles. Working languages: Russian, English Doctors and candidates of science, scientists, specialists of various profiles and directions, applicants for academic degrees, teachers, graduate students, undergraduates, students are invited to participate in the conference. There is one blind verification process in the journal. All articles will be initially evaluated by the editor for compliance with the journal. Manuscripts that are considered appropriate are then usually sent to at least two independent peer reviewers to assess the scientific quality of the article. The editor is responsible for the final decision on whether to accept or reject the article. The editor's decision is final. The main criterion used in assessing the manuscript submitted to the journal is: uniqueness or innovation in the work from the point of view of the methodology being developed and / or its application to a problem of particular importance in the public sector or service sector and / or the setting in which the efforts, for example, in the developing region of the world. That is, the very model / methodology, application and context of problems, at least one of them must be unique and important. Additional criteria considered in the consideration of the submitted document are its accuracy, organization / presentation (ie logical flow) and recording quality.


2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 959-963 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yordanka Peycheva ◽  
Snezhana Lazarova

The formation of comprehensive and in-depth notions of objects and phenomena in the world can be achieved when the mastery of knowledge and skills is carried out in a system realized in the context of integration of different scientific directions. One of the main issues in modern education is related to the contradiction - on one hand between the need to form the skills necessary for the orientation and adaptation of the personality in the dynamics of the globalizing world and on the other - the education which is largely based on unilateral acquiring of knowledge and skills within the different subject areas. This influences the development of a worldview and the formation of an adequate attitude towards the problems under consideration and the world as a whole. The knowledge and skills acquired today are often “locked” in the respective direction. The cross-curricular unity in the curriculum is of a recommended nature, but even if it is realized, it does not fully meet the need for a comprehensive and multifaceted consideration of global issues, as a result of which the student not only understands, reflects, but also applies the lessons learned in the process of creating a product - ideal or material. Combining the intellectual nature of the cognitive process with the practice activity are conditions in which the students are highly active and achieve better learning outcomes. Therefore, it is expedient for the different directions to correspond more closely to each other and to carry out effective cross-curricular integration. The concept of applying an integrative approach in the current paper is based on the idea of creating pedagogical conditions for reconciling the goals and expected outcomes of technology and entrepreneurship and natural sciences studied at the initial stage of the primary education. Integration can take place on two levels - knowledge and skills. We believe that the lapbook as an innovative didactic tool contains the necessary potential for effective realization of the educational goals in both directions in terms of achieving the expected results. In the course of its elaboration, new information is acquired in the field of engineering and technology, specific skills underlying the curricula of technology and entrepreneurship programs are developed. At the same time, a number of subjects from the learning content, which are considered from the natural science point of view, are enriched and perceived in a technological way, after which they find place in an attractive book - a lapbook, made by the students themselves. Its utilitarian value is multiplied by the personal contribution to its creation - not only as an object but also as content. The main topics that are of interest to the students are exploring and preserving nature, jobs, modern technical achievements, holidays and customs. As a result of the adequate integration of competences, tailored to curricula, a number of skills are formed, such as: skills for searching on their own, systematization and presentation of information, and application of the lessons learned in a new situation.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura A. Lukes ◽  
◽  
J. Nelson ◽  
K.C. Kerby-Patel ◽  
W.C. Liles ◽  
...  

Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 683
Author(s):  
Marc Herremans ◽  
Karin Gielen ◽  
Jos Van Kerckhoven ◽  
Pieter Vanormelingen ◽  
Wim Veraghtert ◽  
...  

The peacock butterfly is abundant and widespread in Europe. It is generally believed to be univoltine (one generation per year): adults born in summer overwinter and reappear again in spring to reproduce. However, recent flight patterns in western Europe mostly show three peaks during the year: a first one in spring (overwintering butterflies), a second one in early summer (offspring of the spring generation), and a third one in autumn. It was thus far unclear whether this autumn flight peak was a second new generation or consisted of butterflies flying again in autumn after a summer rest (aestivation). The life cycle of one of Europe’s most common butterflies is therefore still surprisingly inadequately understood. We used hundreds of thousands of observations and thousands of pictures submitted by naturalists from the public to the online portal observation.orgin Belgium and analyzed relations between flight patterns, condition (wear), reproductive cycles, peak abundances, and phenology to clarify the current life history. We demonstrate that peacocks have shifted towards two new generations per year in recent decades. Mass citizen science data in online portals has become increasingly important in tracking the response of biodiversity to rapid environmental changes such as climate change.


2021 ◽  
pp. 026732312110283
Author(s):  
Judith Simon ◽  
Gernot Rieder

Ever since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, questions of whom or what to trust have become paramount. This article examines the public debates surrounding the initial development of the German Corona-Warn-App in 2020 as a case study to analyse such questions at the intersection of trust and trustworthiness in technology development, design and oversight. Providing some insights into the nature and dynamics of trust and trustworthiness, we argue that (a) trust is only desirable and justified if placed well, that is, if directed at those being trustworthy; that (b) trust and trustworthiness come in degrees and have both epistemic and moral components; and that (c) such a normatively demanding understanding of trust excludes technologies as proper objects of trust and requires that trust is directed at socio-technical assemblages consisting of both humans and artefacts. We conclude with some lessons learned from our case study, highlighting the epistemic and moral demands for trustworthy technology development as well as for public debates about such technologies, which ultimately requires attributing epistemic and moral duties to all actors involved.


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