Citizen science

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Citizen science is scientific research conducted, in whole or in part, by amateur or nonprofessional scientists. Formally, citizen science has been defined as "the systematic collection and analysis of data; development of technology; testing of natural phenomena; and the dissemination of these activities by researchers on a primarily avocational basis"[1]. Citizen science is sometimes called "public participation in scientific research."[2]

Citizen-science activities can take many forms:

  • Citizen scientists can help gather data that will be analyzed by professional researchers. The Audubon Society's Christmas Bird Count, which began in 1900, is a good example.
  • Citizen scientists can help analyze data that has been gathered by professional researchers. SETI Live[3], Galaxy Zoo, and other Zooniverse projects are examples.
  • Citizen scientists can volunteer at a research center or join a research expedition, such as those organized by the Earthwatch Institute.
  • Citizen scientists can compete in competition such as NASA's International Space Apps Challenge.[[7]]
  • Citizen scientists can build and operate their own instruments to gather data for their own experiments or as part of a larger project. Examples include amateur radio, amateur astronomy, and Maker activities.
  • Citizen scientists can travel to areas that are seldom visited by professional researchers. Examples include James Cameron's DeepSea Challenger project[4] and Citizens in Space[5]

Citizen science may be performed by individuals, teams, or networks of volunteers. Citizen scientists often partner with professional scientists to achieve common goals. Large volunteer networks often allow scientists to accomplish tasks that would be too expensive or time consuming to accomplish through other means.

Citizen science networks are often involved in the observation of cyclic events of nature (phenology), such as effects of global warming on plant and animal life in different geographic areas,[6] and in monitoring programs for natural-resource management.[7][8][9]

Many citizen-science projects serve education and outreach goals.[10][11][12][13] These projects promote interest in and knowledge of science as well as public engagement in scientific research. These projects may be designed for a formal classroom environment or an informal education environment such as museums.

In recent years, citizen science projects have become increasingly focused on benefits to scientific research.[14][15][16]

Contents

[edit] New Technology

Many citizen-science projects are now taking advantage of mobile phones and other consumer electronic devices with recording capabilities for easy data collection. Examples include the San Francisco ParkScan project, the WildLab [8] iPhone apps for monitoring birds and marine wildlife, and the NASA meteor counter app[9].

The Internet has also been a boon to citizen science. Internet-based citizen-science include NASA's Stardust@home, Clickworkers, SETI Live[17], and various Zooniverse projects such as Galaxy Zoo, Foldit, and the Phylo video game. National Geographic has an archeology project, Field Expedition: Mongolia, in which users tag potential archeological dig sites on GeoEye satellite images, to assist explorers on the ground in Mongolia.

Some projects, such as SETI@home, use the Internet to take advantage of distributed computing. These projects are generally passive. Computation tasks are performed by volunteers' computers and require little involvement beyond initial setup. There is disagreement as to whether these projects should be classified as citizen science. Yale astrophysicist and Galaxy Zoo founder Kevin Schawinski,[10] said, "We prefer to call this Galaxy Zoo citizen science because it’s a better description of what you’re doing; you’re a regular citizen but you’re doing science. Crowd sourcing sounds a bit like, well, you’re just a member of the crowd and you’re not; you’re our collaborator. You’re pro-actively involved in the process of science by participating." Compared to SETI@home, "Galaxy Zoo volunteers do real work. They’re not just passively running something on their computer and hoping that they’ll be the first person to find aliens. They have a stake in science that comes out of it, which means that they are now interested in what we do with it, and what we find."

[edit] Citizens in Space

Citizens in Space, a project of the United States Rocket Academy, seeks to combine citizen science with citizen space exploration. Citizens in Space is training citizen astronauts to fly as payload operators on suborbital reusable spacecraft that are now in development. Citizens in Space will also be developing, and encouraging others to develop, citizen-science payloads to fly on suborbital vehicles. Citizens in Space has already acquired a contract for 10 flights on the Lynx suborbital vehicle, being developed by XCOR Aerospace, and plans to acquire additional flights on Lynx and other suborbital vehicles in the future.

Citizens in Space believes that “The development of low-cost reusable suborbital spacecraft will be the next great enabler, allowing citizens to participate in space exploration and space science." [18]

[edit] History of citizen science

"Citizen science" is a fairly new term but an old practice. Prior to the 20th Century, science was often the pursuit of amateur or self-funded researchers such as Sir Isaac Newton, Benjamin Franklin, and Charles Darwin. By the mid-20th Century, however, science was dominated by researchers employed by universities and government research laboratories. By the 1970's, this transformation was being called into question. Philosopher Paul Feyerabend called for a "democratization of science."[19] Biochemist Erwin Chargaff advocated a return to science by nature-loving amateurs in the tradition of Descartes, Newton, Leibniz, Buffon, and Darwin -- science dominated by "amateurship instead of money-biased technical bureaucrats."[20]

Citizen science has evolved over the past two decades. Recent projects place more emphasis on scientifically sound practices and measurable goals for public education.[21] Modern citizen science differs from its historical forms primarily in the access for, and subsequent scale of, public participation; technology is credited as one of the main drivers of the recent explosion of citizen science activity.[22]

[edit] Other definitions of citizen science

Bruce Lewenstein of Cornell University's Communication and S&TS departments points out two other, less-common definitions of the term "citizen science":

(2) the engagement of nonscientists in true decision-making about policy issues that have technical or scientific components; and (3) the engagement of research scientists in the democratic and policy process.
—Bruce V. Lewenstein[23]

Scientists and scholars who have used these other definitions include Frank Von Hippel, Steve Schneider, Neal Lane, Jon Beckwith, and Alan Irwin.[24] Alternative terminology proposed for these definitions are "civic science" and "civic scientist."[25]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ http://www.openscientist.org/2011/09/finalizing-definition-of-citizen.html
  2. ^ [1] Public Participation in Scientific Research
  3. ^ [2] SETI Live
  4. ^ [3] DeepSea Challenger
  5. ^ [4] Citizens in Space
  6. ^ 'Citizen scientists' watch for signs of climate change, The Christian Science Monitor, April 10, 2008
  7. ^ Ballard, H., Pilz, D., Jones, E.T., and Getz, C. (2005). Training Curriculum for Scientists and Managers: Broadening Participation in Biological Monitoring. Corvalis, OR: Institute for Culture and Ecology.
  8. ^ Cooper, C.B., Dickinson, J., Phillips, T., and Bonney, R. (2007). Citizen Science as a Tool for Conservation in Residential Ecosystems. Ecology and Society. 12 (2).
  9. ^ Firehock, K. and West, J. (2001). A brief history of volunteer biological water monitoring using macroinvertebrates. Journal of the North American Benthological Society. 14 (2) p. 197-202.
  10. ^ Osborn, D., Pearse, J. and Roe, A. Monitoring Rocky Intertidal Shorelines: A Role for the Public in Resource Management. In California and the World Ocean: Revisiting and Revising California's Ocean Agenda. Magoon, O., Converse, H., Baird, B., Jines, B, and Miller-Henson, M., Eds. p. 624-636. Reston, VA: ASCE.
  11. ^ Brossard, D., Lewenstein, B., and Bonney, R. (2005). Scientific Knowledge and Attitude Change: The Impact of a Citizen Science Project. International Journal of Science Education. 27 (9). p. 1099-1121.
  12. ^ Bauer, M., Petkova, K., and Boyadjieva, P. (2000). Public Knowledge of and Attitudes to Science: Alternative Measures That May End the "Science War". Science Technology and Human Values. 25 (1). p. 30-51.
  13. ^ Spiro, M. (2004). What should the citizen know about science? Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 97 (1).
  14. ^ Bonney, R. and LaBranche, M. (2004). Citizen Science: Involving the Public in Research. ASTC Dimensions. May/June 2004, p. 13.
  15. ^ Baretto, C., Fastovsky, D. and Sheehan, P. (2003). A Model for Integrating the Public into Scientific Research. Journal of Geoscience Education. 50 (1). p. 71-75.
  16. ^ McCaffrey, R.E. (2005). Using Citizen Science in Urban Bird Studies. Urban Habitats. 3 (1). p. 70-86.
  17. ^ [5] SETI Live
  18. ^ [6] “Teachers in Space” becomes “Citizens In Space”
  19. ^ Feyerabend, P. Science in a Free Society. New Left Books, London. 1978/82.
  20. ^ Chargaff, E. Heraclitean Fire: Sketches from a Life Before Nature. Rockefeller University Press. 1978.
  21. ^ Bonney, R., Cooper, C.B., Dickinson, J., Kelling, S., Phillips, T., Rosenberg, K.V. and Shirk, J. (2009). Citizen Science: A Developing Tool for Expanding Science Knowledge and Scientific Literacy. BioScience. 59 (11). P. 977-984.
  22. ^ Silvertown, J. (2009). A New Dawn for Citizen Science. Trends in Ecology & Evolution. 24 (9). p. 467-471
  23. ^ Lewenstein, Bruce V. "What does citizen science accomplish?" Paper read at CNRS colloquium, 8 June 2004, in Paris, France.
  24. ^ Frank Von Hippel, Citizen Scientist: Collected Essays (Springer, 1991) Jon Beckwith, Making Genes, Making Waves: A Social Activist in Science (Harvard, 2002) Irwin, A. (1995). Citizen science : a study of people, expertise, and sustainable development. London ; New York: Routledge. Neal Lane, "Remarks" at Panel Discussion on Future of Federal Funding for Science and Engineering, Rutgers University, April 8, 1996. Steve Schneider, remarks at AAAS meeting, February 1997; see here.
  25. ^ Clark, F. and Illman, D. L. (2001). Dimensions of Civic Science: Introductory Essay. Science Communication, 23 (5). DOI: 10.1177/1075547001023001002

[edit] External links

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