Applying Citizen Science for Sustainable Development: Rainfall Monitoring in Western Nepal

Abstract

We introduce a case-study agnostic framework for the application of citizen science in a sustainable development context. This framework is tested against an activity in two secondary schools in western Nepal. While the purpose of this activity is to generate locally relevant knowledge on the physical processes behind natural hazards, we concentrate here on its implementation, i.e., to obtain a better understanding of the dynamic of the activity and to learn how it should be implemented. We determined the social capital of secondary schools as a gateway to the local community: they provide a unique setting to bring different stakeholders together. We find that co-designing a teaching programme is an effective means of both complementing local curricula and ensuring continued buy-in of local stakeholders (i.e., teachers). Student engagement depends on the local relevance of teaching materials, with more holistic or global concepts, such as climate change of lesser importance. Our activity focused on rainfall, including student-led data collection. These rainfall data provide a very good fit to co-located rain gauge data, with an average difference on weekly readings of 11.8%, reducing to 8.3% when averaged over all student readings. The autonomous development of student-organized science clubs suggested that our original framework underestimated students' capacity to apply knowledge elsewhere creatively. These clubs may be used to obtain participant feedback to improve and tailor future activities. Quantitative assessment of long-term sustainability remains challenging, due in part to high levels of student turnover. We suggest that integrating scientists wherever possible within a school or local community has a direct and positive result on participant retention.

Changing precipitation patterns in far-western Nepal in relation to landslides in Bajhang and Bajura districts

“…We also created an awareness of rainfall-induced landslides amongst the local communities, as well as their potential impacts on livelihoods, especially as several of the rain gauge stations were established within secondary school compounds (for additional security and maintenance purposes). This latter point allowed us to share our results with local educators and students and to introduce practical sessions using measuring cylinders to collect local household estimates of daily rainfall (Paul et al, 2020). This technique has been demonstrated to be very powerful in general awareness-raising of local landslide risk; the local community are better equipped to observe landslides themselves, and then to share inputs into local and regional disaster risk reduction (DRR) plans (Paul et al, 2018;Cieslik et al, 2019).…”

“…Though quartzites are mechanically strong and impermeable, they are nevertheless slowly affected by rainfall penetration (Amabile et al, 2018). Moreover, the Bajura district is characterised by a relatively high density of E-W-trending thrust faults, allowing a greater degree of percolation (Parajuli et al, 2020;Paul et al, 2020).…”

Applied citizen science in freshwater research

“…Importantly, this effort also established trust between these outside researchers and local stakeholders (teachers). These relationships were built upon a foundation of citizen science and were later a foothold for the researchers' ability to collect data in a region where they were outsiders (Paul et al, 2020). In the southwestern United States, university researchers collaborated with indigenous high school students and teachers from the Navajo Nation to test the efficacy of sunflowers as bioremediators in the arid and polluted soils near the high schools.…”

“…This approach allows scientists to vet samples for field quality (e.g., data sheets are completed) prior to costly processing steps. Other approaches include requiring photos of field observations that can be validated (Weeser et al, 2018), testing citizen scientists for proficiency prior to their participation, and having multiple citizen scientists replicate tasks to average across efforts and quantitatively identify inconsistencies (Marjadi, 2016; Paul et al, 2020). Additionally, practitioners may account for differences among data collections using post hoc statistical methods that account for skills and experience of individual citizen scientists (Kosmala et al, 2016).…”

“…Globally, citizen scientists are collaborating with researchers to monitor water quality parameters such as pH, turbidity, and nutrient load on unprecedented spatial and temporal scales (Farnham et al, 2017; Ho et al, 2020; Wang et al, 2020). Citizen scientists are collecting data on endangered and invasive species in rivers and lakes (Run, Herring, Run!, 2021; Weinberger, 2019), monitoring restoration sites (Yardi et al, 2019), engaging in in resource management decisions (Owen & Parker, 2018; Paul et al, 2020), and contributing to our understanding of the effects of water quality on human health (Kashian et al, 2014; Roy & Edwards, 2019; Webber et al, 2021). In some instances, citizen‐collected data has been used post hoc to fill in critical data needs—such as in Saudi Arabia where scientists reconstructed otherwise unknown water level rise in a popular recreational cave by analyzing video footage posted on YouTube (Michelsen et al, 2016).…”