Excerpt: (C)itizen science provides a way to question how science is done and who is doing it. Within citizen science, it is important to notice that scientific degrees don’t always translate to leadership. The keynotes speakers were Dr. Marc Edwards (Virgina Tech) &  LeeAnne Walters (Coalition for Clean Water). Marc started in an area of…

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Abstract: Data collection, storage, analysis, visualization, and dissemination are changing rapidly due to advances in new technologies driven by computer science and universal access to the internet. These technologies and web connections place human observers front and center in citizen science-driven research and are critical in generating new discoveries and innovation in such fields as…

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Abstract: Citizen participation in online communities of scientific investigations has recently become more popular. Enhancing the engagement of citizens within these communities is a focus of attention for researchers and practitioners who want to amplify the impact on learning, science and society. This study investigates the relationship between engagement factors and behaviour patterns in an…

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Summary: In Citizen Science, members of the general public collaborate with scientists to generate and use data relating to the natural world. For the many fields of marine research, this is a particularly powerful approach which should not be overlooked. The sheer scale of coastal and ocean environments mean that it would take several lifetimes…

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Abstract: The validity of the threat status assigned to a species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List relies heavily on the accuracy of the geographic range size estimate for that species. Range maps used to assess threat status often contain large areas of unsuitable habitat, thereby overestimating range and underestimating…

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Abstract: This paper presents an observatory for registering applications that use participatory sensing to collect data. Cataloging these applications will aid the scientific community to exchange more information, facilitating the comparison between different initiatives. Through an initial research, the applications are categorized in areas usually considered in the literature. We propose a survey to validate…

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Abstract: Changing land cover and climate regimes modify water quantity and quality in natural stream systems. In regions undergoing rapid change, it is difficult to effectively monitor and quantify these impacts at local to regional scales. In Vancouver, British Columbia, one of the most rapidly urbanizing areas in Canada, 750 measurements were taken from a…

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Abstract: Despite the growing volume of available transportation data and the efforts of many cities to increase cycling levels, there remains a lack of data on where people cycle. The use of GPS trajectories have now been used in cycle studies for several years, and more recently large, crowdsourced datasets of GPS recorded cycle trips…

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Abstract: Citizen science—the involvement of volunteers in data collection, analysis and interpretation—simultaneously supports research and public engagement with science, and its profile is rapidly rising. Citizen science represents a diverse range of approaches, but until now this diversity has not been quantitatively explored. We conducted a systematic internet search and discovered 509 environmental and ecological…

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How can museums advance citizen science? The City Nature Challenge makes evident at least three themes: First, a belief that “science is open to all” is consistent with museums’ values of inclusivity and access. Second, museums know partnerships. (To realize this competitive bioblitz event, the California Academy of Sciences and the Natural History Museum of…

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