The Flint water crisis has caused all sorts of reflections on citizen science practice; this blog, from Scientific American, examines the broad range of science communication that attempts to make dialogue between public and (professional) scientists a two-way street. –Chris Comedian Lily Tomlin once asked, “Why is it when we talk to God we’re said…
Abstract: In today’s connected society people are finding and sharing interests through social networking sites and activities. This connected and inquiry-based learning is a wonderful way for large groups of people to learn more about the world around them. Launched in 2009 by the Open University (OU), iSpot (www.ispotnature.org) taps into this connectivism through a…
Abstract: A photograph-based monitoring system was developed to involve citizen scientists in monitoring sites in western North Carolina and northern Georgia where the predators Sasajiscymnus tsugae (Sasaji & McClure) and Laricobius nigrinus Fender had been released as part of the U.S. Forest Service’s biological control program for Adelges tsugae Annand (hemlock woolly adelgid). The study was divided into an initial phase…
Abstract: Ocean colour measurements from space are well suited to assess phytoplankton dynamics over broad spatial scales. Closer to the coast however, the quality of these data degrades as a result of the loading of sediments and dissolved matter from terrestrial runoff, the influences of land reflection on atmospheric correction and sea-bottom reflection, which compromise…
Abstract: Novel and more affordable technologies are allowing new actors to engage increasingly in the monitoring of hydrological systems and the assessment of water resources. This trend may shift data collection from a small number of mostly formal institutions (e.g., statutory monitoring authorities, water companies) toward a much more dynamic, decentralized, and diverse network of data…
Grizz Tracker was developed in partnership with Peace Region’s Operations Division staff, Alberta Environment and Parks (AEP) in collaboration with industrial stakeholders (Daishowa-Marubeni International Ltd., Boucher Bro Lumber Ltd., Canfor, Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., Manning Diversified Forest Products) and the Miistakis Institute to enable industrial personal working in the Lower Peace Region to collect sightings information on grizzly bears. The…
This paper from the ever-prolific Cornell Lab of Ornithology team describes the creation of a new dataset of annotated images. Those interested in volunteer citizen science might be interested in another conclusion: We find that citizen scientists are significantly more accurate than Mechanical Turkers at zero cost. –CJL Abstract: We introduce tools and methodologies to…
Smorball tackles a major challenge for digital libraries: poor output from Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software significantly hampers full-text searching of digitized material. When first scanned, the pages of digitized books and journals are merely image files, making the pages unsearchable and virtually unusable. While OCR converts page images to searchable, machine encoded text, historic…
Jellyfish abundance can inform what is happening in the oceans on a larger scale, and researchers are asking citizen scientists to post jellyfish observations on a special website. “Citizen science … is valuable because it is multiplied with such large numbers. To tap into that pool of has huge advantages,” said Steven Haddock, a researcher at the University…
Researchers from the University of Minnesota and the University of Waikato are seeking the assistance of everyday “citizen scientists” to help complete a huge new WWI history project called Measuring the ANZACs (measuringtheanzacs.org). The researchers would like to see citizen scientists of all ages participate so that they can release the records of men who…