The growth of citizen science over the past decade is shown by the increasing number of references to the topic tracked by bibliographic databases such as the Web of Science. The current survey examines the literature on citizen science in the biological and environmental sciences. A number of projects have studied insects and pollinators, avian migration, invasive species, horticulture, marine species, phenology, wildlife behavior, and ecosystems. The projects share a number of themes: including field study of distributed populations, questions about data accuracy, and benefits for the public such as improving public participation in science, expanding the number of people making science and technical decisions, promoting informal science education, and the connecting science to citizenship. Further research into citizen science across a wider range of disciplines is needed to fully understand this emerging phenomenon.
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Citizen Participation in the Biological Sciences: A Literature Review of Citizen Science “Citizen science [is the] participation of the general public in scientific research” (Couvet, Jiguet, Julliard, Levrel, & Teyssedre, 2008). The continuing development of the internet and other communication technologies over the last 20 years has contributed to the growth of citizen science projects in a number of different disciplines. The current paper reports the results of a literature review of current citizen science projects. Some scientists argue that we are entering a new era of scientific discovery, a dataintensive “fourth paradigm” of scientific investigation. In this new paradigm scientists are recording, and analyzing massive amounts of data from new observation and simulation tools (Gray 2009). Citizen science is a tool for cost effectively collecting and analyzing the vast amounts of new data generated by data-intensive science (Bonney et al. 2009; Silvertown 2009). Citizen science is a volunteer activity based on the four dimensions described by Cnaan, Handy, and Wadsworth (1996). Citizen scientists participate out of choice instead of coercion, nor do they receive monetary compensation. Activities can be carried out for organizations or individually. The intended beneficiaries of citizen science are widespread and may encompass the individual participant who learns more about science while being involved in a project, to the scientist who is running the project, and finally to the wider world that may benefit from the outcome of the research. The methods used for the paper followed the traditional structure of a thematic literature review. A variety of common bibliographic databases, including Web of Science and Google Scholar, were search for the phrase “citizen science” and synonyms. References from relevant papers were examined for further possible articles on the topic.
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4 Literature Review Understanding the distribution of citizen science projects must begin with a brief discussion of the structure of current scientific research. A number of efforts have been made in the field of scientometrics to map and/or measure the different disciplines of science. Klavan and Boyack (2009) synthesized 20 of these projects into a “consensus map of science.” They identified 16 scientific research areas: mathematics, computer science, physics, physical chemistry, chemistry, engineering, earth sciences, biochemistry, biology, infectious diseases, medical specialities, health services, brain research, psychology, social sciences, and the humanities. Four of these areas are mentioned in all 20 maps of science they surveyed: mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology. The following literature survey focused on two of the major areas identified by Klavan and Boyack: biology, and the earth sciences. A brief section sets the historical context for citizen and amateur science. Historical Context The participation of non-scientists in scientific research is not a new phenomenon. Before the professionalization of science in the 19th century a lot of scientific research was conducted by amateurs (Mims III, 1999). Many early scientific discoveries and inventions were made by amateurs in a variety of fields ranging from astronomy, to physics, to biology, and beyond (Gregory & Miller, 1998; Silvertown, 2009). Significant scientific figures, such as Robert Boyle or Charles Darwin, may be considered, by today’s standards, to have been nonprofessional scientists (Shapin, 1994). The development of professional scientific practice and the concomitant growth of institutions, such as universities and professional associations,
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5 accelerated in America during the 19th century and continued to gain ground into the 20th century (Holmfeld, 1970). “Citizen science” as a term-of-art began to be applied to amateur projects in the mid-1990s (Irwin, 1995). The term was used to indicate a growing concern with the participation of non-scientists in expert decision and policy making. Increasing public participation was seen as a beneficial way to incorporate more people into the complex design of science and technological systems. The use of non-scientists to collect scientific data can be traced back to the 19th century. Prominent scientific projects that extend over such long periods of time include: the Audubon annual bird count (Silvertown, 2009), the Ontario phenology database (Futter, 2003), and the American Association of Variable Star Observers (“History of the AAVSO | AAVSO,” 2010). Biological Sciences When studying ecosystems and conservation practice, the use of citizen science is helpful but limited. Because ecosystems are complex and subtle changes can alter the whole community of organisms and environment, the reliability of citizen science is questioned; very specific data collection methods must be taught in order for citizens to record observations of indicator species whether botanical or animal. Data collected by students of White Oak stands showed that students’ data correlated with trained scientists, but more specific and detailed data collection should remain in the hands of the professionals (Galloway, Tudor, & Haegan, 2006). The California Sea Grant asked citizen scientists to count the population of spawning grunion along the coast of California, and to collect water samples that would later be tested for factors affecting grunion spawning (Martin, 2008).
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The geographic range that citizen scientists occupy has assisted in a study of pest resistance; citizen scientists scour forest terrain in search of resistant species standing in pestinfested woodlands. Volunteers give program coordinators their location, the growing conditions, and arrange plant cuttings for future propagation; the pest-resistant species can then be bred to produce a progeny with a resistant strain (Ingwell & Pressier, 2011). Master gardeners were trained to inventory street trees in their community; which led to a grant that effectively enhanced the community by planting appropriate trees that lend shade and increase pavement longevity, act as storm water catchers, avoid power line interaction, and decrease death rate of trees through professional planting (Prochaska & Hoffman, 2010). Other projects are assessing the progeny of the American and Chinese chestnut as a possible pest-resistant Chestnut strand to repopulate forests (Antill, 2011) and Cornell University is leading a project to study the Viburnum Leaf Beetle (Viburnum Leaf Beetle (VLB) Citizen Science, Cornell University. (n.d.).). Phenological studies need citizen scientists and have depended on their data collection throughout history. “Volunteers have documented seasonal events for more than a century, and scientific studies are benefiting from the data” (Mayer, 2010). Ice development, break-up, and ice-free days has been recorded in Southern Ontario by citizen scientists since 1853 (Futter, 2003). Project Budburst involves volunteer monitors in the surveillance of phenophases; citizens record their observations into the website’s database, which can be accessed by scientists and researchers to build theory, management practice, and understand the changes that are occurring within our ecosystems (Henderson & Havens, 2008; Meymaris, Henderson, Alaback, & Havens, 2008). The National Phenology Network also uses volunteer scientists to record changes in plant
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7 and animal lifecycles; the data is entered into an online database called “Nature’s Notebook,” so that phenological data such as nesting, leaf emergence, and pollination can be accessed in one place (Miller-Rushing, 2010). When it comes to identification of species, it is important for citizen science project coordinators to include training and/or plant id pamphlets to increase the accuracy of reporting (Crall et al., 2011). The Invaders of Texas citizen science program detects the arrival of invasive species, maps the local terrain with invaders, and encourages researchers to use this data to better understand the dispersal of invasive plant species within Texas borders (Gallo et al., 2010). Adirondack Park has instilled a citizen science project to assist park rangers with the inventory of non-native, invasive species (Brown et al., 2001). Scholars survey 128 citizen science programs studying invasive species and they propose a public database where all of the projects could deposit their findings; centralized data sharing and standardization are offered as a prototype for improving data collection (Crall et al., 2010). In Japan, citizen scientists are used to observe the spatial spread of invasive bee species so that management practice can be developed based on the collected data (Kadoya et al., 2009).
