scholarly journals Citizen (Science) Involvement in Data Digitization and Enrichment of the Insect Collection of the Museu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciência (Lisboa, Portugal)

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis Lopes ◽  
Leonor Venceslau ◽  
Luís da Costa
Keyword(s):  
Citizen Science ◽  
Preliminary Analysis ◽  
Scientific Community ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Test Dataset ◽  
The Public ◽  
Private Collection ◽  
Historia Natural ◽  
Available Information ◽  
General User

The entomological collection of the Museu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciência (MUHNAC), Universidade de Lisboa, includes over 70,000 catalogued specimens, mostly from Portugal and some African countries (Lopes et al. 2016). However, many more remain uncatalogued and thus unavailable to the broader scientific community. To achieve our goal of full access, it is necessary to digitize and validate all data associated with these specimens. Recently, a large private collection, comprised of several thousand specimens compiled by José Passos de Carvalho, was donated to the Museum. These specimens are prepared and labelled, however no catalogue is available. Therefore, the only available information about each specimen is on the respective label(s). To acquire this information, specimens are being photographed along with their labels (Fig. 1). Since digitization of specimen labels is labor intensive, we decided to use the Zooniverse platform to involve the public in this task. To this end we have developed a project (currently being tested), entitled “MB07 - The Insects of the Museu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciência”, with a test dataset of 130 specimens of moths from the Sphingidae family (Insecta, Lepidoptera). The objective is to evaluate the potential of involving the public in the tasks of label transcription and taxonomic determination to enrich and speed collection digitization. We have developed two distinct workflows: i) one in which users are asked to transcribe information from specimen labels, therefore a pure digitization task; and ii) a second workflow in which volunteers are asked to contribute new taxonomic information based on the specimen images. Therefore, the first task should be accessible to the general user while the second is more directed towards taxonomic specialists and not intended for the general public. Here we present a preliminary analysis of our experience with this platform and of the obtained data.

scholarly journals The ‘Astronomy for the Public’ Task Force

2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (H16) ◽  
pp. 550-551
Author(s):  
Carolina J. Ödman-Govender ◽  
Ian E. Robson
Keyword(s):  
Citizen Science ◽  
General Public ◽  
Scientific Community ◽  
Task Force ◽  
Scientific Thinking ◽  
The Public ◽  
Raising Awareness ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Force Range ◽  
The Universe

AbstractOne of the ways in which astronomy can stimulate development is by raising awareness of our place in the universe among the general public. This contributes to inspiring people and brings the scientific community and scientific thinking closer to everyone. The IAU OAD has set up one task force dedicated to ‘Astronomy for the Public’. Proposed activities of the task force range from low-tech astronomy outreach to citizen science. We will present the task force, its objectives and potential developmental impacts for the first few years of operation.

scholarly journals Managing the Public to Manage Data: Citizen Science and Astronomy

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Darch
Keyword(s):  
Citizen Science ◽  
Scientific Community ◽  
Significant Contribution ◽  
Large Datasets ◽  
The Public ◽  
Statistical Assumptions ◽  
Individual Contributions ◽  
Set Up

Citizen Cyberscience Projects (CCPs) that recruit members of the public as volunteers to process and produce large datasets promise a great deal of benefits to scientists and science. However, if this promise is to be realised, and citizen science-produced datasets are to be widely used by scientists, it is essential that these datasets win the trust of the scientific community. This task of securing credibility involves, in part, applying standard scientific procedures to clean up datasets formed by volunteer contributions. However, the management of volunteers’ behaviour in terms of how they contribute also plays a significant role in improving both the quality of individual contributions and the overall robustness of the resultant datasets. This can assist CCPs in securing a reputation for producing trustworthy datasets. Through a case study of Galaxy Zoo, a CCP set up to generate datasets based on volunteer classifications of galaxy morphologies, this paper explores how those involved in running the project manage volunteers. In particular, it focuses on how methods for crediting volunteer contributions motivate volunteers to provide higher quality contributions and to behave in a way that better corresponds to statistical assumptions made when combining volunteer contributions into datasets. These methods have made a significant contribution to the success of the project in securing trust in these datasets, which have been well used by other scientists. Implications for practice are then presented for CCPs, providing a list of considerations to guide choices regarding how to credit volunteer contributions to improve the quality and trustworthiness of citizen science-produced datasets.

The scientific bibliography of Roberto Lawley (1818–1881) and his contribution to the study of fossil sharks

2006 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 267-281
Author(s):  
Giuseppe Manganelli ◽  
Andrea Benocci ◽  
Valeriano Spadini
Keyword(s):  
New Taxa ◽  
Scientific Community ◽  
Publishing House ◽  
Main Interest ◽  
Private Collection ◽  
Scientific Papers

Roberto Massimo Lawley (1818–1881) was a non-academic naturalist who made a major contribution to the Tuscan scientific community of his time. He was involved in the foundation of two societies (Società Italiana di Malacologia, 1874–1899; Società Toscana di Scienze Naturali, 1874–today) and a publishing house (Biblioteca Malacologica Italiana). He first devoted himself to malacology, but Neogene fossil fishes became his main interest. Over the years, he gathered a huge private collection of fossils and produced 18 scientific papers, dealing mainly with fossil sharks. Subsequent revisers criticized his approach to fossil taxa: their observations were generally sound, but they failed to fully recognize Lawley's scientific merits. His scientific papers, new taxa established by him and eponymys are given in the Appendix.

Additional Evidence on Audit Report Lag

2001 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Robert Knechel ◽  
Jeff L. Payne
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Quality ◽  
Financial Statements ◽  
Financial Statement ◽  
Fiscal Year ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Audit Report ◽  
The Public ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Audit Team ◽  
Available Information

The process for providing accounting information to the public has not changed much in the last century even though the extent of disclosure has increased signifi-cantly. Sundem et al. (1996) suggest that the primary benefit of audited financial statements may not be decision usefulness but the discipline imposed by timely confirmation of previously available information. In general, the value of information from the audited financial statement will decline as the audit report lag (the time period between a company's fiscal year end and the date of the audit report) increases since competitively oriented users may obtain substitute sources of information. Furthermore, the literature on earnings quality and earnings management suggests that unexpected reporting delays may be associated with lower quality information. The purpose of this paper is to extend our understanding about the determinants of audit report lag using a proprietary database containing 226 audit engagements from an international public accounting firm. We examine three previously uninvestigated audit firm factors that potentially influence audit report lag and are controllable by the auditor: (1) incremental audit effort (e.g., hours), (2) the resource allocation of audit team effort measured by rank (partner, manager, or staff), and (3) the provision of nonaudit services (MAS and tax). The results indicate that incremental audit effort, the presence of contentious tax issues, and the use of less experienced audit staff are positively correlated with audit report lag. Further, audit report lag is decreased by the potential synergistic relationship between MAS and audit services.

The Fight Against Doubt

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Inmaculada de Melo-Martín ◽  
Kristen Intemann
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Scientific Community ◽  
Vaccine Safety ◽  
False Beliefs ◽  
Scientific Process ◽  
The Public ◽  
Scientific Consensus ◽  
Scientific Claims

Current debates about climate change or vaccine safety provide an alarming illustration of the potential impacts of dissent about scientific claims. False beliefs about evidence and the conclusions that can be drawn from it are commonplace, as is corrosive doubt about the existence of widespread scientific consensus. Deployed aggressively and to political ends, ill-founded dissent can intimidate scientists, stymie research, and lead both the public and policymakers to oppose important policies firmly rooted in science. To criticize dissent is, however, a fraught exercise. Skepticism and fearless debate are key to the scientific process, making it both vital and incredibly difficult to characterize and identify dissent that is problematic in its approach and consequences. Indeed, as de Melo-Martín and Intemann show, the criteria commonly proposed as means of identifying inappropriate dissent are flawed, and the strategies generally recommended to tackle such dissent are not only ineffective but could even make the situation worse. The Fight against Doubt proposes that progress on this front can best be achieved by enhancing the trustworthiness of the scientific community and being more realistic about the limits of science when it comes to policymaking. It shows that a richer understanding is needed of the context in which science operates so as to disarm problematic dissent and those who deploy it in the pursuit of their goals.

scholarly journals Abundant Citizen Science Data Reveal That the Peacock Butterfly Aglais io Recently Became Bivoltine in Belgium

Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 683
Author(s):  
Marc Herremans ◽  
Karin Gielen ◽  
Jos Van Kerckhoven ◽  
Pieter Vanormelingen ◽  
Wim Veraghtert ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Citizen Science ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Early Summer ◽  
Science Data ◽  
The Public ◽  
Online Portal ◽  
Spring Generation ◽  
Reproductive Cycles ◽  
New Generation

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.

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 Evaluating human–coyote encounters in an urban landscape using citizen science

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Drake ◽  
Shelli Dubay ◽  
Maximilian L Allen
Keyword(s):  
Citizen Science ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Urban Landscape ◽  
Time Of Day ◽  
Human Observer ◽  
Public Outreach ◽  
The Public ◽  
Paved Road ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Human Wildlife Conflict

Abstract Coyotes are ubiquitous in habitats across North America, including in urban areas. Reviews of human–coyote encounters are limited in scope and analysis and predominantly document encounters that tend to be negative, such as human–wildlife conflict, rather than benign experiences. The objective of our study was to use citizen science reports of human–coyote interactions entered into iNaturalist to better understand the range of first person accounts of human–coyote encounters in Madison, WI. We report 398 citizen science accounts of human–coyote encounters in the Madison area between October 2015 and March 2018. Most human–coyote encounters occurred during coyote breeding season and half of all encounters occurred in moderate development land cover. Estimated level of coyote aggressiveness varied significantly, with 90% of citizen scientists scoring estimated coyote aggression as a 0 and 7% scoring estimated aggression as a 1 on a 0–5 scale (with 0 being calm and 5 being aggressive). Our best performing model explaining the estimated distance between the human observer and a coyote (our proxy for a human–coyote encounter) included the variables distance to nearest paved road, biological season of the year relative to coyote life history, and time of day/night. We demonstrate that human–coyote interactions are regularly more benign than negative, with almost all first-hand reported human–coyote encounters being benign. We encourage public outreach focusing on practices that can foster benign encounters when educating the public to facilitate human–coyote coexistence.

scholarly journals The OpenRadiation project: monitoring radioactivity in the environment by and for the citizens

2019 ◽  
Vol 54 (4) ◽  
pp. 241-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.F. Bottollier-Depois ◽  
E. Allain ◽  
G. Baumont ◽  
N. Berthelot ◽  
G. Darley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Management ◽  
Dose Rate ◽  
Scientific Community ◽  
Emergency Situation ◽  
Collaborative Approach ◽  
Fukushima Accident ◽  
The Public ◽  
Collaborative Tools ◽  
Share Data ◽  
Project Monitoring

After the Fukushima accident, initiatives emerged offering the public the possibility to realise measurements of the radioactivity in the environment with various devices and to share data and experiences through collaborative tools. The objective of the OpenRadiation project is to offer the public the opportunity to perform measurements of the radioactivity using connected dosimeters on smartphones. The challenge is to operate such a system on a sustainable basis in normal situations and in order to be useful in an emergency situation. In normal situations, this project is based on a collaborative approach including pedagogical activities. In case of emergency situation, data from the field will be available in “real time” providing an opportunity for the emergency management and the communication with the public. The practical objectives are to develop i) a website centralising measurements using various dosimeters, providing dose rate maps with raw and filtered data and offering dedicated areas for specific projects and exchanges about data and ii) a dosimetric app using a connected dosimeter. This project is conducted within a partnership between organisms’ representative of the scientific community and associations to create links with the public.

scholarly journals A Risk-Based Strategy for Evaluating Mitigation Options for Process-Formed Compounds in Food

2016 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 358-370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Hanlon ◽  
Gregory P. Brorby ◽  
Mansi Krishan
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Decision Tree ◽  
Scientific Community ◽  
Life Sciences ◽  
Technical Committee ◽  
Global Approach ◽  
Chemical Safety ◽  
The Public ◽  
The North ◽  
The Impact

Processing (eg, cooking, grinding, drying) has changed the composition of food throughout the course of human history; however, awareness of process-formed compounds, and the potential need to mitigate exposure to those compounds, is a relatively recent phenomenon. In May 2015, the North American Branch of the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI North America) Technical Committee on Food and Chemical Safety held a workshop on the risk-based process for mitigation of process-formed compounds. This workshop aimed to gain alignment from academia, government, and industry on a risk-based process for proactively assessing the need for and benefit of mitigation of process-formed compounds, including criteria to objectively assess the impact of mitigation as well as research needed to support this process. Workshop participants provided real-time feedback on a draft framework in the form of a decision tree developed by the ILSI North America Technical Committee on Food and Chemical Safety to a panel of experts, and they discussed the importance of communicating the value of such a process to the larger scientific community and, ultimately, the public. The outcome of the workshop was a decision tree that can be used by the scientific community and could form the basis of a global approach to assessing the risks associated with mitigation of process-formed compounds.

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