Editor’s Choice: Not so amateur

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This isn’t a new book, but it’s an interesting take on an old story not much discussed in the citizen science community. Perhaps historians of twentieth century citizen science are needed alongside their more common nineteenth century colleagues. – CJL –

Technological advances come in such small increments that we rarely think about their accumulated effect. Today, it is hard to imagine a world without photocopiers, colour television, mobile phones or e-mail. Or satellites, imperceptibly circling overhead, ignoring national boundaries, spying on hurricanes, solar activity and terrorist encampments, positioning us globally.

In Keep Watching the Skies!, Patrick McCray reconstructs an era when the world was taking its baby steps into the space age. He views it through the eyes of amateur star-gazers who experienced the excitement of those Sputnik days by joining Moonwatch, a worldwide effort to track the satellites that were launched for the International Geophysical Year of 1957–58.

Fred Whipple, the energetic new director of the venerable and nearly moribund Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO), oversaw the observatory’s move north from Washington DC to join Harvard College Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and propelled the SAO into the space age. Overriding the doubts of many of his peers, it was Whipple’s vision to engage amateurs across the United States, and then around the world, to watch for the passage of satellites. At each location, he proposed the creation of an ‘optical fence’ across the sky, using a row of modest wide-field telescopes to spot any satellite that might cross the celestial meridian.

Whipple’s stubbornness in defending the inexpensive Moonwatch programme paid off when the unexpected launch of the Russian satellite Sputnik 1, and shortly thereafter Sputnik 2, occurred before more elaborate satellite-tracking programmes were ready. The Moonwatchers’ observations gave the SAO just enough data to calculate the orbits of the satellites and to follow their decay. Three weeks after its launch, the batteries of Sputnik 1 died, rendering it silent to the multimillion-dollar radio tracking stations and amateur radio operators. The observations of the amateur Moonwatch teams suddenly became the main source of information.

Photo credit: Photo from article (see link below).

Source: Not so amateur

Crowdsourcing the Human Gut. Is crowdsourcing also ‘citizen science’?

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Abstract:

The participation of non-professionally trained people in so-called citizen science (CS) projects is a much discussed topic at the moment. Frequently, however, the contribution of citizens is limited to only a few narrow tasks. Focusing on an initiative dedicated to the study of the human microbiome, this paper describes such a case where citizen participation is limited to the provision of funding, samples, and personal data. Researchers opted for a crowdsourced approaches because other forms of funding and recruitment did not seem feasible. We argue that despite the narrow understanding of participation in the context of some CS projects, they can address some of the democratic concerns related to scientific knowledge creation. For example, CS and crowdsourcing can help to foster dialogue between researchers and publics, and increase the influence of citizens on research agenda setting.

Source: Crowdsourcing the Human Gut. Is crowdsourcing also ‘citizen science’?

A generalized approach for producing, quantifying, and validating citizen science data from wildlife images

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Abstract:

Citizen science has the potential to expand the scope and scale of research in ecology and conservation, but many professional researchers remain skeptical of data produced by nonexperts. We devised an approach for producing accurate, reliable data from untrained, nonexpert volunteers. On the citizen science website www.snapshotserengeti.org, more than 28,000 volunteers classified 1.51 million images taken in a large-scale camera-trap survey in Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. Each image was circulated to, on average, 27 volunteers, and their classifications were aggregated using a simple plurality algorithm. We validated the aggregated answers against a data set of 3829 images verified by experts and calculated 3 certainty metrics—level of agreement among classifications (evenness), fraction of classifications supporting the aggregated answer (fraction support), and fraction of classifiers who reported “nothing here” for an image that was ultimately classified as containing an animal (fraction blank)—to measure confidence that an aggregated answer was correct. Overall, aggregated volunteer answers agreed with the expert-verified data on 98% of images, but accuracy differed by species commonness such that rare species had higher rates of false positives and false negatives. Easily calculated analysis of variance and post-hoc Tukey tests indicated that the certainty metrics were significant indicators of whether each image was correctly classified or classifiable. Thus, the certainty metrics can be used to identify images for expert review. Bootstrapping analyses further indicated that 90% of images were correctly classified with just 5 volunteers per image. Species classifications based on the plurality vote of multiple citizen scientists can provide a reliable foundation for large-scale monitoring of African wildlife.

Source: A generalized approach for producing, quantifying, and validating citizen science data from wildlife images

Using Technology and Citizen Science to Understand Dragonfly Migration

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Given the wide geographic scope of dragonfly migration, citizen-science observations are critical to furthering knowledge of this remarkable behavior. Our understanding of the migration phenomenon in dragonflies has advanced as engagement in Migratory Dragonfly Partnership projects soar across North America. Now 1,000-strong, MDP’s volunteer network has helped reveal several insights into the behavior and seasonal movements of migrant dragonflies.

Observations made by volunteers, combined with work by MDP partners at the University of Maryland, the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, and the Vermont Center for Ecostudies using elements (stable isotopes) found in dragonfly wings, has helped to track migrants back to their natal ponds. The study of stable isotopes not only can determine the latitude of origin, but also characterize the timing of annual movements in eastern North America as well as the direction and distance traveled by individual dragonflies.

Source: Using Technology and Citizen Science to Understand Dragonfly Migration

The Science Behind WeCureAlz: A Participatory Research Project Tackling Alzheimer’s Disease

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Earlier this year, we introduced you to WeCureALZ – a groundbreaking new project that for the first time is set to use the power of citizen science to conduct Alzheimer’s research. Enabled by the support of the BrightFocus Foundation, the team is already preparing for the alpha testing of our first online activity – a game that will allow everyone to search for stalled capillaries in the brains of Alzheimer’s-affected mice.

With a beta launch planned later this year, we thought it was about time we tell you the key part of the story – the science behind WeCureALZ, and what is it that you – citizen scientists – will be helping researchers do!

Source: The Science Behind WeCureAlz: A Participatory Research Project Tackling Alzheimer’s Disease

Editor’s Choice: The Influence of a Citizen Science Project: Student Attitudes, Sense of Place, and Understanding of Scientific Practices

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This thorough study of the effects of participation in citizen science on a group of high school students is amongst the first to look at the changes in attitude. It’s worth a read in its own right, but is sure to be cited in proposals for the foreseeable future. – CJL –

Abstract:

Citizen science is a form of public participation in scientific research in which volunteers engage with scientists in authentic research projects. Citizen science projects have been studied to understand participant and scientist motivations and outcomes, particularly in scientific literacy and attitudes. Recently, citizen science projects have become more common in classrooms, but few studies document these outcomes using robust methodology. The current study was developed to measure local high school students’ understanding of science practices, attitudes toward science, and sense of place during a semester-long citizen science project in Yellowstone National Park using a mixed-methods design. Qualitative interviews revealed rich insight into students’ sense of place, attitudes toward science, understanding of science practices and nature of science, and impressions of citizen science. Results indicated that students exhibited place attachment and an increased understanding of place after participating in a PhotoPoints project. Many attitudes shifted to reveal their enjoyment of science through this project. Students displayed an increased understanding of scientific process, but maintained many misconceptions about the nature of science. Students also revealed that their impressions of citizen science include the value of citizen perspective to scientific research. These findings supported the hypothesis that citizen science projects can influence students’ scientific knowledge, sense of place, and attitudes. Additionally, students’ impressions of citizen science suggest this practice may contribute to democratizing science in classrooms. Instead of considering the influence of citizen science on individual dimensions, this study suggests that citizen science can be used as holistic, place-based tool to connect these dimensions and develop the whole learner.

Photo credit: Figure 1 from paper.

Source: The Influence of a Citizen Science Project: Student Attitudes, Sense of Place, and Understanding of Scientific Practices

MyOSD 2014: Evaluating Oceanographic Measurements Contributed by Citizen Scientists in Support of Ocean Sampling Day

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Abstract:

The first Ocean Sampling Day (OSD) took place on June 21, 2014. In a coordinated effort, an internationally distributed group of scientists collected samples from marine surface waters in order to study microbial diversity on a single day with global granularity. Concurrently, citizen scientists enriched the OSD initiative through the MyOSD project, providing additional oceanographic measurements crucial to the contextualization of microbial diversity. Clear protocols, a user-friendly smartphone application, and an online web-form guided citizens in accurate data acquisition, promoting quality submissions to the project’s information system. To evaluate the coverage and quality of MyOSD data submissions, we compared the sea surface temperature measurements acquired through OSD, MyOSD, and automatic systems and satellite measurements. Our results show that the quality of citizen-science measurements was comparable to that of scientific measurements. As 79% of MyOSD measurements were conducted in geographic areas not covered by automatic  or satellite measurement, citizen scientists contributed significantly to worldwide oceanographic data gathering. Furthermore, survey results indicate that participation in MyOSD made citizens feel more engaged in ocean issues and may have increased their environmental awareness and ocean literacy.

Source: MyOSD 2014: Evaluating Oceanographic Measurements Contributed by Citizen Scientists in Support of Ocean Sampling Day

Limitations of Majority Agreement in Crowdsourced Image Interpretation

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Abstract:

Crowdsourcing can efficiently complete tasks that are difficult to automate, but the quality of crowdsourced data is tricky to evaluate. Algorithms to grade volunteer work often assume that all tasks are similarly difficult, an assumption that is frequently false. We use a cropland identification game with over 2,600 participants and 165,000 unique tasks to investigate how best to evaluate the difficulty of crowdsourced tasks and to what extent this is possible based on volunteer responses alone. Inter-volunteer agreement exceeded 90% for about 80% of the images and was negatively correlated with volunteer-expressed uncertainty about image classification. A total of 343 relatively difficult images were independently classified as cropland, non-cropland or impossible by two experts. The experts disagreed weakly (one said impossible while the other rated as cropland or non-cropland) on 27% of the images, but disagreed strongly (cropland vs. non-cropland) on only 7%. Inter-volunteer disagreement increased significantly with inter-expert disagreement. While volunteers agreed with expert classifications for most images, over 20% would have been mis-categorized if only the volunteers’ majority vote was used. We end with a series of recommendations for managing the challenges posed by heterogeneous tasks in crowdsourcing campaigns.

Source: Limitations of Majority Agreement in Crowdsourced Image Interpretation

Editor’s Choice: Going with the floe

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This article – in the Royal Astronomical Society’s Astronomy and Geophysics journal – is a wonderful crossover between two different Zooniverse projects. Ships logs included in the Old Weather project fed the curiosity of Solar Storm Watch volunteer Jules Wilkinson, who wrote up the aurora logs of the USS Jeannette

Abstract:

Julia Wilkinson and a Zooniverse citizen-science team examine Arctic auroral data, using observations from the ill-fated 19th-century Arctic exploration ship USS Jeannette.

Photo Credit: Image from general poster on Old Weather Blog Resources page, Kevin Wood.

Source: Going with the floe

Editor’s Choice: Citizen Scientists Finding New Reptile Species in Southern California

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One test of a citizen science project’s success is the ability to produce scientific results – and sometimes that’s a case of connecting the right people. This excellent story involves exactly that – and a gecko.

On August 14, 2013, Glen Yoshida snapped a photo of a lizard clinging to a wall on his front porch. He uploaded the photo to iNaturalist, a website and smartphone app that allows users to submit photos of animals and plants. “This Indo-Pacific Gecko lives somewhere on my front porch. She comes out usually after it gets dark outside and when the weather is on the warm side,” wrote Yoshida, an IT specialist at a nursing home, who lives in Torrance. The photo caught the eye of Greg Pauly, a herpetologist at LA’s Natural History Museum.

As their name suggests, Indo-Pacific geckos, Hemidactylus garnotii, aren’t supposed to be found in Torrance, or in the Americas at all. They’re native to Southeast Asia, India, the Philippines, Australia, and parts of Polynesia. But the species reproduces asexually. Females lay eggs and they hatch without male fertilization. That makes it amazingly easy for the lizards to settle in a new home. All it takes is one individual to stow away in a potted plant or to escape from a pet store, and if she can find a safe place to live, she can found her own little gecko family.

Thanks to iNaturalist’s commenting feature, Pauly was able to ask Yoshida to record some additional information. “Great observations Glen,” he wrote in a comment on a photo taken in October 2013. “It would be great if you could also include the high temp for that day.” By providing that data, a photo Yoshida took of a juvenile in March of 2014 allowed Pauly to discover that the geckos’ eggs could successfully incubate and hatch during the colder winter months, and that the geckos were active at temperatures into the mid-50s. That was something of a surprise for a tropical species. “A single photo told us, oh my gosh, this tropical gecko is breeding over the course of our southern California winters,” he says. “It’s not what anybody would have predicted.”

Photo Credit: Photo in article, © Jason Goldman.

Source: Citizen Scientists Finding New Reptile Species in Southern California