Editor’s Choice: The focus of this paper is a summary of two workshops held to better understand the design and development principles for mobile or web-based citizen science platforms. The recommendations from the working groups are well worth reading – even if you think you know everything about developing citizen science projects! – LFF Abstract:…
Abstract: Information on species’ distributions and abundances, environmental associations, and how these change over time are central to the study and conservation of wildlife populations. This information is challenging to obtain at relevant scales across range-wide extents for two main reasons. First, local and regional processes that affect populations vary throughout the year and across…
Editor’s Choice: Now focusing on imagery from Hurricane Maria, the Planetary Response Network continues the important work outlined here for the devastation caused by Hurricane Irma. This effort and others like it still need your help – this is where citizen science can actually save lives! –LFF– Excerpt: A highly unusual collaboration between information engineers…
Abstract: Citizen Science with mobile and wearable technology holds the possibility of unprecedented observation systems. Experts and policy makers are torn between enthusiasm and scepticism regarding the value of the resulting data, as their decision making traditionally relies on high-quality instrumentation and trained personnel measuring in a standardized way. In this paper, we (1) present…
Excerpt: My greatest frustration with science class when I was in school was during labs. For some reason I saw them for what they were…rule-following exercises. Think about it for a second. The lab stations are set up the same way, everyone gets the same handout, and there are correct conclusions that everyone should come…
Abstract: In the last few years, contributions of the general public in scientific projects has increased due to the advancement of communication and computing technologies. Internet played an important role in connecting scientists and volunteers who are interested in participating in their scientific projects. However, despite potential benefits, only a limited number of crowdsourcing based…
Editor’s Choice: This paper attempts to disentangle the complex relationship between the folks that are “paid” to run the Zooniverse and the unpaid volunteers who provide the classifications. At what point does it become the responsibility of the paid professionals to move from a simple transactional relationship with the volunteers to a more democratized relationship…
Editor’s Choice: For everyone who thinks they are a practitioner of Citizen Science, this article is a must read as it drives home the need for clear data management practices with Citizen Science projects especially as we see the dramatic proliferation of CS projects. Will your data obtained from volunteers be maximally useful in potentially combining…
Editor’s Choice: This paper underscores a very important point to keep in mind when designing a citizen science project: make sure you understand what motivates your target participants and how your project design feeds into this. This is particularly true when considering whether to “gameify” your project – some people are actually disincentivized by overt…
Abstract: Gamification in citizen science systems combines play elements with scientific tasks. We posit that gamified elements are connected through “framings,” layers of meaning overlaid onto core tasks to shape an overall experience. Drawing upon self-determination theory, we propose a research model to investigate how users’ perceptions of framings contribute to motivational needs and contribution…