Citizen Science Initiatives Research Articles

Learning by doing: A multi‐level analysis of the impact of citizen science education

AbstractScience education that fosters scientific competency and engagement prepares students to become informed civic participants in modern society. Teaching strategies that encourage scientific engagement are especially important in rural settings, as these students are less likely to pursue scientific careers or use science in their everyday lives. To this aim, we implemented a citizen science approach in science education, an approach that enables K‐12 grade students to participate in locally relevant and authentic scientific research, in suburban and rural 5th and 9th–12th grade classrooms. While most citizen science education initiatives are led by experienced scientists, we recognized the additional level of learning that may arise from positioning undergraduate students as curricular designers of the citizen science classroom activities and partners for the classroom teachers. This study evaluates perceived changes in science engagement, science identity, and science competency that emerged as a result of participating in this citizen science initiative, both for the 5th and 9th–12th school students and the undergraduate instructors. Classroom teachers reported that students demonstrated an increased level of engagement with and excitement about science. The undergraduate instructors reported a renewed sense of confidence in their science abilities and a deepened sense of place in the science community. Finally, the educators involved in this project, both classroom K‐12 teachers and undergraduate higher education educators, observed the benefits of this model for connecting students at different points in their science learning journeys. In our discussion, we articulate the benefits and challenges of implementing a multilevel approach to citizen science education.

Enduring tensions between scientific outputs and science learning in citizen science

Citizen science has been lauded for its promise and potential to simultaneously advance both the scientific enterprise as well as science education. Oftentimes, however, citizen science projects struggle to balance these dual goals and negotiate the tensions that arise between them. Many of these enduring tensions center on the tradeoffs involved between producing high quality data while also maintaining engaging learning experiences for volunteers. In this article, we present a case study of how a community-based organization navigated these tensions in the context of a multi-stakeholder, collaborative monitoring program that featured citizen science as part of a broader watershed restoration effort. Specifically, we describe how project organizers responded to tensions in their citizen science initiative by creating a tiered system for volunteer participation. This system aimed to produce high-quality data to inform watershed management as well as a suite of science learning opportunities for volunteers in ways aligned with their respective interests and goals. Ultimately, we suggest that such a system can support multiple pathways for building healthy and resilient social-ecological systems by potentially broadening the knowledge sources and perspectives from which conservation decisions are made.

Environmental drivers of tropical forest snake phenology: Insights from citizen science.

Museum specimens and citizen science initiatives are valuable sources of information on how anthropogenic activities affect biodiversity and how species respond to rapid global change. Although tropical regions harbor most of the planet's biodiversity, investigations on species' phenological changes are heavily biased toward temperate regions. Such unevenness in phenological research is also taxonomically biased, with reptiles being the least studied group among tetrapod species regarding animal phenology. Herein, we used long-term time-series data to investigate environmentally driven changes in the activity pattern of tropical forest snakes. We gathered natural history collection and citizen science data for 25 snake species (five venomous and 20 non-venomous) from an Atlantic Forest region in southeastern Brazil. Using circular mixed-effects models, we investigate whether snake activity patterns followed the variation in environmental variables over a decade. Our results show that the activity pattern of Atlantic Forest snakes was seasonal and largely driven by average temperature and relative humidity. Since snakes are ectothermic animals, they are particularly sensitive to temperature variations, especially at small scales. Moreover, relative humidity can affect snake's seasonal activities through physiological constraints and/or prey availability. Most specimens were registered during the rainy season, with highly venomous snakes (lanceheads and coral snakes) emerging as the most abundant taxa. We highlight the importance of citizen science and natural history collections in better understanding biodiversity. Furthermore, our data obtained from local collectors underscore the need for environmental education programs and collaboration between researchers and local decision-makers to raise awareness and reduce conflicts between people and snakes in the region.

How can Inclusive Citizen Science Transform the Sustainable Development Agenda? Recommendations for a Wider and More Meaningful Inclusion in the Design of Citizen Science Initiatives

How can Inclusive Citizen Science Transform the Sustainable Development Agenda? Recommendations for a Wider and More Meaningful Inclusion in the Design of Citizen Science Initiatives

Biohacking COVID-19: Sharing Is Not Always Caring

This netnographic study investigates how and why people engage with citizen science initiatives and share insights from them in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, this research focuses on biohacking, a form of citizen science in which individuals conduct innovative but controversial self-experiments. In a context of ideological, behavioral, and emotional tensions, biohackers seek to do what they consider to be “the right thing” for themselves and others. Some biohackers believed that governmental “solutions” for the pandemic were not “correct” or “the best” and shared scientifically unproven protocols to develop, for example, homemade vaccines. However, in many cases, biohackers may unintentionally create harm while intending to do good by sharing such “solutions.” In this vein, this research shows that sharing is not always caring, as biohacking related to COVID-19 exemplifies. Although sharing is a form of prosocial behavior, it has different motivations that may invert its epistemic prosocial orientation to an antisocial one. This orientation results in new challenges, as well as strengthening old challenges, for policy makers facing public crises, such as pandemics. The prescriptions for policy makers offered in this article aim to help reduce such an impact on governmental efforts to tackle collective crises.

Citizen Science in Australian Higher Education: Emerging Learning and Research Communities

Citizen science, though well established in Australia has not yet found wide use in tertiary science education. We offer case studies to illustrate that Citizen Science approaches are slowly being adopted and we highlight the spectrum of experiences in higher education from undergraduate to alumni. Courses that integrate citizen science methods tend to focus on the involvement of students in scientific research. More recently, however, citizen science theories and practice have been explicitly taught, empowering students to bring a critical lens to citizen science approaches in addition to contributing to scientific research. Integrative citizen science approaches can draw together research and teaching in higher education. When combined, these authentic learning experiences provide opportunities for students to practice contemporary science as part of new and emerging research frameworks. This article draws together citizen science initiatives from Australian universities. We discuss the benefits of immersive citizen science projects for learning, the potential of citizen science to connect campuses with community, and the importance of critical approaches to citizen science in a pedagogical setting. We consider ways to shape citizen science in higher education settings to broaden inclusion in science both on and beyond campuses.

Common juniper, an overlooked conifer with high invasion potential in protected areas of Patagonia

The benefits of early detection of biological invasions are widely recognized, especially for protected areas (PAs). However, research on incipient invasive plant species is scarce compared to species with a recognized history of invasion. Here, we characterized the invasion status of the non-native conifer Juniperus communis in PAs and interface areas of Andean Patagonia, Argentina. We mapped its distribution and described both the invasion and the environments this species inhabits through field studies, a literature review, and a citizen science initiative. We also modeled the species’ potential distribution by comparing the climatic characteristics of its native range with those of the introduced ranges studied. The results show that J. communis is now widely distributed in the region, occurring naturally in diverse habitats, and frequently within and close to PAs. This species can be considered an incipient invader with a high potential for expansion in its regional distribution range, largely due to its high reproductive potential and the high habitat suitability of this environment. Early detection of a plant invasion affords a valuable opportunity to inform citizens of the potential risks to high conservation value ecosystems before the invader is perceived as a natural component of the landscape.

Citizen science and Post-Normal Science’s extended peer community: Identifying overlaps by mapping typologies

At first sight, citizen science – the opening of scientific enterprise to a wider group of people, many of whom are not professionally engaged in research institutions, seems to align well with the concept of an extended peer community of the framework of Post-Normal Science (PNS). PNS is concerned with the social robustness of applied science, science-based professional consultancy, and scientific advice for policy in situations of high stakes, high uncertainties, and contested values. Creating opportunities for engagement of citizens in science seems an obvious fit – but is that true for all diverse forms that citizen science can take? Current citizen science includes many types of activities and practices. As a result, the role of the participants within a given scientific knowledge production practice and their relation to scientists vary. This paper leverages the PNS framework to gain a more in-depth understanding of different ways in which diverse citizen science initiatives can contribute to improving the science-policy interface and provide tool sets and approaches for extended peer review, or not. For this purpose, this paper develops an analytic framework drawing on several widely used typologies of citizen science. The twenty four activities and practices of citizen science that they cover are mapped onto different zones of problem solving strategies – applied science, professional consultancy, and post-normal science, which are presented in the literature on PNS in terms of uncertainty and decision stakes while also noticing their value conflicts and urgency. The analysis shows that each of the four zones of scientific activities can be associated with citizen science initiatives. We deduce that citizen science is not automatically imbued with transformative potential, but that this potential depends on the purpose and design of the citizen science initiative. Certain types of citizen science activities and approaches are more relevant to researchers and practitioners with an interest in PNS who are actively seeking to reconfigure the science-policy-practice interface than others. This analytic framework and consequent mapping can support PNS practitioners in identifying the type of citizen science activities and designing fit-for-purpose initiatives. Moreover, the mapping exercise conveys a more nuanced understanding of different possible dimensions, merits, and limitations of the extended peer community concept. Similarly, for citizen science researchers and practitioners, the mapping of typologies within the three zones of problem solving strategies can allow a better selection of citizen science activities for those purposes.

Investigating the potential of social media and citizen science data to track changes in species' distributions.

How to best track species as they rapidly alter their distributions in response to climate change has become a key scientific priority. Information on species distributions is derived from biological records, which tend to be primarily sourced from traditional recording schemes, but increasingly also by citizen science initiatives and social media platforms, with biological recording having become more accessible to the general public. To date, however, our understanding of the respective potential of social media and citizen science to complement the information gathered by traditional recording schemes remains limited, particularly when it comes to tracking species on the move with climate change. To address this gap, we investigated how species occurrence observations vary between different sources and to what extent traditional, citizen science, and social media records are complementary, using the Banded Demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens) in Britain as a case study. Banded Demoiselle occurrences were extracted from citizen science initiatives (iRecord and iNaturalist) and social media platforms (Facebook, Flickr, and Twitter), and compared with traditional records primarily sourced from the British Dragonfly Society. Our results showed that species presence maps differ between record types, with 61% of the citizen science, 58% of the traditional, and 49% of the social media observations being unique to that data type. Banded Demoiselle habitat suitability maps differed most according to traditional and social media projections, with traditional and citizen science being the most consistent. We conclude that (i) social media records provide insights into the Banded Demoiselle distribution and habitat preference that are different from, and complementary to, the insights gathered from traditional recording schemes and citizen science initiatives; (ii) predicted habitat suitability maps that ignore information from social media records can substantially underestimate (by over 3500 km2 in the case of the Banded Demoiselle) potential suitable habitat availability.

Citizen science projects in the context of participatory approaches: The case of Izmir

The term "citizen science" refers to scientific activity done entirely or in part by members of the public, frequently in cooperation with or under the guidance of licensed scientists. To better manage natural resources, monitor endangered species, and maintain protected areas, decision-makers, and non-governmental organizations increasingly turn to citizen science-based programs. A broad field, citizen science, offers numerous strategies for involving volunteers in research in various ways while including a whole range of research methodologies. Thus far, citizen science initiatives have been successful in advancing scientific understanding, and the advancements made by citizen scientists give a significant amount of data globally. The subject of citizen science is spreading rapidly, and its legitimacy is increasing. It also involves enhancing scientific research by utilizing a variety of subjects and data sources. Citizen science has the potential to increase stakeholder engagement, bring in new perspectives, and foster new forms of participation. Also, many initiatives are being developed in cutting-edge scientific fields. These programs now aim to solve an urgent issue or provide an answer to a research question while simultaneously enhancing community participation in science and influencing long-term policy implementation. The study utilizes to examine the citizen science projects in Izmir, Turkey according to the concepts and categorizations in the literature review in a systematic way to understand their participation levels and their potential.

How can we transform citizens into ‘environmental agents of change'? Towards the citizen science for environmental citizenship (CS4EC) theoretical framework based on a meta-synthesis approach

ABSTRACT Environmental Citizen Science (CS) initiatives are argued to provide a promising vehicle for involving citizens in the investigation of various socio-environmental issues. However, environmental CS initiatives have often been criticized for merely focusing on the achievement of their scientific goals and outcomes (science-oriented), rather than on empowering and transforming the participants into ‘environmental citizens’ (citizen-oriented). This study adopts a meta-synthesis approach to synthesize evidence from three recent systematic reviews, seeking to extract a set of design principles for the development of an integrated theoretical framework enabling Environmental Citizenship (EC) in environmental CS initiatives. The proposed framework lies on the intersection of three main research areas: (a) Participation in CS, (b) Pedagogy in CS, and (c) Education for Environmental Citizenship. Grounded on the conjunction of the aforementioned areas, the Citizen Science for Environmental Citizenship (CS4EC) framework puts forward the transformative capacity and the participatory learning aspects of environmental CS initiatives. Overall, the proposed framework lays the foundations for the design of environmental CS initiatives capable for the empowerment and transformation of citizens into ‘environmental agents of change’.

Sequence-structure-function relationships in the microbial protein universe

For the past half-century, structural biologists relied on the notion that similar protein sequences give rise to similar structures and functions. While this assumption has driven research to explore certain parts of the protein universe, it disregards spaces that don’t rely on this assumption. Here we explore areas of the protein universe where similar protein functions can be achieved by different sequences and different structures. We predict ~200,000 structures for diverse protein sequences from 1,003 representative genomes across the microbial tree of life and annotate them functionally on a per-residue basis. Structure prediction is accomplished using the World Community Grid, a large-scale citizen science initiative. The resulting database of structural models is complementary to the AlphaFold database, with regards to domains of life as well as sequence diversity and sequence length. We identify 148 novel folds and describe examples where we map specific functions to structural motifs. We also show that the structural space is continuous and largely saturated, highlighting the need for a shift in focus across all branches of biology, from obtaining structures to putting them into context and from sequence-based to sequence-structure-function based meta-omics analyses.

Who engages with science, and how? An empirical typology of Europeans' science engagement.

This article seeks to expand the literature on science attitudes by developing an empirical typology of people's engagement choices and investigating their sociodemographic characteristics. Public engagement with science is gaining a central role in current studies of science communication, as it implies a bidirectional flow of information, which makes science inclusion and knowledge co-production realizable goals. However, research has produced few empirical explorations of the public's participation in science, especially considering its sociodemographic characteristics. By means of segmentation analysis using Eurobarometer 2021 data, I observe that Europeans' science participation can be distinguished into four types, disengaged, the largest group, aware, invested, and proactive. As expected, descriptive analysis of the sociocultural characteristics of each group suggests that disengagement is most common among people with lower social status. In addition, in contrast to the expectations from existing literature, no behavioral distinction emerges between citizen science and other engagement initiatives.

Performance evaluation and applicability of Lichens GO, a citizen science-based protocol for urban air quality monitoring

The Lichens GO program is a French citizen science initiative based on the European guidelines that aims to evaluate the lichen diversity for urban air quality monitoring. In this study, we assessed the performance and applicability of the current Lichens GO protocol to then propose adaptations to make it more reliable and feasible for citizen science. To achieve this goal, we considered four aspects of the citizen science program: potential protocol simplifications, sampling site availability, observer bias, and volunteer feedbacks. Simulated simplification scenarios from a reference data set highlighted the large influence of reducing the number of sampled trees on taxonomic and functional structure metrics compared to reducing the number of sampled tree exposure sides and considered lichen species list. When considering the Lichens GO protocol (i.e., three trees, four exposure sides, Lichens GO species list) compared to the reference data set (i.e., five trees, four exposure sides, exhaustive species list), we evaluated an underestimation of lichen species richness (−25%), acidophilous species proportion (−94%), and functional diversity (−21%). In parallel, the maximum distance between sampled trees did not influence the taxonomic and functional structure metrics when considering a homogeneous sampling area (i.e., similar light or shade conditions). Finally, we compared Lichens GO relevés from 25 volunteers in the same site to highlight the major identification difficulties that could compromise the ecological interpretation. To improve the quality of data collected by citizens without increasing the sampling effort, we suggest to: (1) increase the maximum distance between trees from 10 to 50 m to extend the sampling site availability; (2) adapt the Lichens GO identification key to limit species confusion; and (3) assign an ecological trait to some lichen species groupings to improve the ecological interpretation. The proposed adaptations were tested and showed an improvement in the acidophilous species proportion (from −94 to −13%) and functional diversity (from −21 to −4%).

Technological Affordance and the Realities of Citizen Science Projects Developed in Challenging Territories

Citizen science has established itself as an important approach to the co-production of knowledge and public participation in scientific research. Combined with digital technologies and online tools, the approach has been celebrated as a path toward the democratization of science. However, only a few studies have investigated the role digital technologies play in shaping interactions between people and nature. Additionally, the role of context in shaping online and face-to-face participation in citizen science projects has yet to receive much attention. This article takes a citizen science initiative in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest in the state of São Paulo as an illustrative case of the emergence of unanticipated consequences of digital technologies. The emergence of a socio-material practice of animal identification through a popular instant-messaging app is described, allowing a better understanding of the role of digital technologies and the context framing citizen participation in challenging environments.

Finding the Balance between Research and Monitoring: When Are Methods Good Enough to Understand Plastic Pollution?

Plastic pollution is an international environmental problem. Desire to act is shared from the public to policymakers, yet motivation and approaches are diverging. Public attention is directed to reducing plastic consumption, cleaning local environments, and engaging in citizen science initiatives. Policymakers and regulators are working on prevention and mitigation measures, while international, regional, and national bodies are defining monitoring recommendations. Research activities are focused on validating approaches to address goals and comparing methods. Policy and regulation are eager to act on plastic pollution, often asking questions researchers cannot answer with available methods. The purpose of monitoring will define which method is implemented. A clear and open dialogue between all actors is essential to facilitate communication on what is feasible with current methods, further research, and development needs. For example, some methods can already be used for international monitoring, yet limitations including target plastic types and sizes, sampling strategy, available infrastructure and analytical capacity, and harmonization of generated data remain. Time and resources to advance scientific understanding must be balanced against the need to answer pressing policy issues.

Fusarium diversity associated with diseased cereals in China, with an updated phylogenomic assessment of the genus.

Fusarium species are important cereal pathogens that cause severe production losses to major cereal crops such as maize, rice, and wheat. However, the causal agents of Fusarium diseases on cereals have not been well documented because of the difficulty in species identification and the debates surrounding generic and species concepts. In this study, we used a citizen science initiative to investigate diseased cereal crops (maize, rice, wheat) from 250 locations, covering the major cereal-growing regions in China. A total of 2 020 Fusarium strains were isolated from 315 diseased samples. Employing multi-locus phylogeny and morphological features, the above strains were identified to 43 species, including eight novel species that are described in this paper. A world checklist of cereal-associated Fusarium species is provided, with 39 and 52 new records updated for the world and China, respectively. Notably, 56 % of samples collected in this study were observed to have co-infections of more than one Fusarium species, and the detailed associations are discussed. Following Koch's postulates, 18 species were first confirmed as pathogens of maize stalk rot in this study. Furthermore, a high-confidence species tree was constructed in this study based on 1 001 homologous loci of 228 assembled genomes (40 genomes were sequenced and provided in this study), which supported the "narrow" generic concept of Fusarium (= Gibberella). This study represents one of the most comprehensive surveys of cereal Fusarium diseases to date. It significantly improves our understanding of the global diversity and distribution of cereal-associated Fusarium species, as well as largely clarifies the phylogenetic relationships within the genus. Taxonomic novelties: New species: Fusarium erosum S.L. Han, M.M. Wang & L. Cai, Fusarium fecundum S.L. Han, M.M. Wang & L. Cai, Fusarium jinanense S.L. Han, M.M. Wang & L. Cai, Fusarium mianyangense S.L. Han, M.M. Wang & L. Cai, Fusarium nothincarnatum S.L. Han, M.M. Wang & L. Cai, Fusarium planum S.L. Han, M.M. Wang & L. Cai, Fusarium sanyaense S.L. Han, M.M. Wang & L. Cai, Fusarium weifangense S.L. Han, M.M. Wang & L. Cai. Citation: Han SL, Wang MM, Ma ZY, Raza M, Zhao P, Liang JM, Gao M, Li YJ, Wang JW, Hu DM, Cai L (2023). Fusarium diversity associated with diseased cereals in China, with an updated phylogenomic assessment of the genus. Studies in Mycology 104: 87-148. doi: 10.3114/sim.2022.104.02.

The Killer Whale in the Caribbean Sea: An Updated Review of Its Ecology, Exploitation, and Interactions with Fisheries

The killer whale (Orcinus orca) is a cosmopolitan cetacean distributed worldwide. Extensive studies have described its ecology and behavior across multiple polar and temperate regions. On the other hand, there is limited information on the distribution, ecological roles, and abundance of killer whales in tropical and subtropical regions. Herein, we build on previous work to update information on the spatiotemporal distribution, exploitation, and natural history of killer whales in the Caribbean Sea. We also document new records on their interaction with other species and human activities. We collated 385 records from the literature, online biodiversity information systems, the Internet (social networks and video-hosting websites), and citizen science-based initiatives. Records included sightings (87.3%), intentional captures (10.6%), bycatch (0.3%), and strandings (1.8%). Data primarily originated from research projects/activities (57%) and citizen science-based initiatives (43%). Records were distributed in the eastern Caribbean (39.5%), the southern Caribbean (19.7%), the Greater Antilles (19.2%), the Bahamian Region (13.0%), Central America (6.8%), and eastern Florida (1.8%). Killer whales were recorded year-round, but most data were reported between March and August (59.6%). The scarcity of records in Central America could reflect true lower densities in the region, lower observation effort, or a combination of the two. Because of the paucity of data, this study supports the growing importance of citizen-science initiatives to document the occurrence and ecology of this species in the Caribbean. Our dataset also confirms the occasional and widespread occurrence of killer whales throughout the Caribbean Sea. Potential low densities and limited predictability of their occurrence hinder dedicated research on this species.

Citizen science aids the quantification of the distribution and prediction of present and future temporal variation in habitat suitability at species’ range edges

Citizen science programs are effective methods to collect large volumes of data to assist researchers in monitoring ecological environments. As species shift their distributions globally due to climate change, the use of citizen science data to detect these shifts is increasing. Using targeted citizen science programs to collect data on these species could provide information on range edges to inform species distribution modelling. Currently, species distribution models (SDMs) often rely on large data repositories that may lack observations, and hence ability, to detect changes at the range edge. Here, we developed a SDM to compare traditional data repository observations with targeted citizen science data at the southern distribution limit of two recreationally important marine fish in Tasmania, Australia to investigate the potential change in spatial predictions at their range edge. The SDM using the targeted citizen science data in addition to traditional observation data improved the representation of species by 2.3 and 52.7% and increased the southern distribution of the species by 277 and 438 km, for snapper and King George whiting, respectively. Future (centred around 2050 under IPCC RCP 8.5) habitat suitability was predicted to increase more over the winter season, with implications for species overwintering and persistence of populations. The use of citizen science data allowed for the modelling of historical and future change for two range-extending species, an outcome possible due to the collaboration of two citizen science programs that collected observational data on the target species. Species range shifts will require ongoing monitoring and we have demonstrated that complimentary citizen science initiatives are effective in capturing occurrences of species at their range edge. Increasing collaboration between programs may further increase data collection efforts and provide the knowledge to create a hub for these data to be used more efficiently in the future.

Ecological characterisation of urban ponds in the Netherlands: a study based on data collected by volunteers

Blue space in the urban environment can positively contribute to public health and well-being. Many urban freshwater systems, however, are exposed to anthropogenic stressors, resulting in deteriorated water quality and biodiversity. Private garden ponds are essential elements of this blue space but little is known about their water quality since they are not monitored by water professionals. The Dutch citizen science initiative Waterdiertjes.nl focusses on biological water quality assessment using macroinvertebrates and launched a campaign to investigate garden ponds in 2021. The campaign yielded macroinvertebrate recordings in 60 garden ponds and limited additional information on dimensions, and presence of water vegetation and fish. Volunteers also investigated 92 public urban ponds in 2021. Combining both data allowed for evaluation of the similarity between both pond types. Analyses were also performed to discover the importance of pond dimensions and presence of aquatic vegetation or fish for the macroinvertebrate biodiversity and water quality. Multivariate analyses showed a considerable overlap in macroinvertebrate community composition between garden and public urban ponds. Results showed high variability in taxon richness, total macroinvertebrate density and water quality scores A significant, nonlinear relation was observed between pond depth and macroinvertebrate taxon richness with the highest richness at a depth of 0.5-1m. Submerged vegetation correlated significantly with taxon richness with little vegetation having the lowest richness. Presence of fish or floating vegetation was not significantly related to taxon richness, total density and water quality scores possibly due to unnatural conditions that underlie in garden ponds. Since water professionals and academic scientists do not monitor garden ponds, citizen science may provide valuable data on water quality and biodiversity in these waters. The present initiative showed that volunteers can successfully monitor understudied ecosystems and gather data on temporal and spatial scales complementary to professional data that lead to new (ecological) insights.