Lessons From A Year Of Citizen Science

Abstract

Emerging global issues such as climate change and biodiversity loss are predicted to become more severe over the course of the 21st century (IPCC AR5, 2014). These issues present a significant challenge both to the scientific community in terms of prediction, quantification and monitoring, and to wider society in terms of adaptation and mitigation.Responding to these challenges is likely to require communication and collaboration on a scale not previously seen in science. The rapidly developing field of citizen science and the growing global network of participatory citizen scientists are likely to be crucial to this response, and may represent a novel model for inclusive international collaboration.The 3rd Citizen Cyberscience Summit (Feb 20th – 22nd, 2014) held in London, UK, brought together a diverse international community of scientists, software developers, industry, policy makers and citizen scientists, to share advances in this field.My own experience lies in molecular ecology and conservation, with citizen science participation as both a hobby and something increasingly incorporated into my research. As a young scientist fascinated and inspired by this emerging field, I hope this gives me the unique perspective bridging both volunteers and academics to evaluate where we are now, and the direction that we might aspire towards as we broaden the horizons of citizen science.The following points are summarized from a year of volunteer participation in citizen science and fruitful observations and discussions at the Citizen Cyberscience Summit 2014 (CCS14).