Citizen science participation in research in the environmental sciences: key factors related to projects’ success and longevity

Abstract

The potential impacts of citizen science initiatives are increasing across the globe, albeit in an imbalanced manner. In general, there is a strong element of trial and error in most projects, and the comparison of best practices and project structure between different initiatives remains difficult. In Brazil, the participation of volunteers in environmental research is limited. Identifying the factors related to citizen science projects' success and longevity within a global perspective can contribute for consolidating such practices in the country. In this study, we explore past and present projects, including a case study in Brazil, to identify the spatial and temporal trends of citizen science programs as well as their best practices and challenges. We performed a bibliographic search using Google Scholar and considered results from 2005-2014. Although these results are subjective due to the Google Scholar's algorithm and ranking criteria, we highlighted factors to compare projects across geographical and disciplinary areas and identified key matches between project proponents and participants, project goals and local priorities, participant profiles and engagement, scientific methods and funding. This approach is a useful starting point for future citizen science projects, allowing for a systematic analysis of potential inconsistencies and shortcomings in this emerging field.

Development and Validation of a Photo‐Evidence Tool to Examine Characteristics of Effective Drinking Water Access in Schools

“…The photo‐evidence tool also holds promise for citizen science—the collaborative collection and analysis of data by members of the general public in collaboration with scientists. The citizen science approach has increasingly been applied to improve environmental health . For example, in Flint, Michigan, a city where lead was discovered in the municipal water supply, community members have worked hand‐in‐hand with Virginia Tech scientists to collect and test tap water samples .…”

“…The citizen science approach has increasingly been applied to improve environmental health. 28 For example, in Flint, Michigan, a city where lead was discovered in the municipal water supply, community members have worked hand-inhand with Virginia Tech scientists to collect and test tap water samples. 29 These efforts have generated and continue to produce scientific data to inform local drinking water policies.…”

Mapping the Individual Trees in Urban Orchards by Incorporating Volunteered Geographic Information and Very High Resolution Optical Remotely Sensed Data: A Template Matching-Based Approach

“…The unprecedented growth in VGI [80] on the web in the recent years, as well as the numerous benefits of it such as its openness to the public, high availability, and diversity have made crowdsourced geospatial data an interesting source of information for an increasing number of application domains [81]. Furthermore, the participation of volunteers in the acquisition of VGI under the umbrella of Citizen Science (CS) [82,83] programs (e.g., crowdsourcing projects for inventorying trees in urban orchards) may bring excellent social benefits by increasing public engagement, scientific learning, and socialization [84], as well as enhancing public environmental awareness, advocacy, and conservation [85].…”

Formal Citizen Science in the 5th Grade: Ineffective but Informative and Highly Influential

“…Citizen science, a pioneering form of crowd-sourcing, is the combination of scientific researchers working with people who do not come from the world of scientific research or from the scientific community and have no practical research experience (He and Wiggins, 2017;Hulbert 2016;Tulloch et al, 2013). Some argue that citizen science emerged as part of the development of the environmental movement in the 1960s and 1970s (Cunha et al 2017). Despite reservations regarding the use of citizen science which focus on the quality and reliability of the data collected by unpracticed citizens (Cunha et al 2017), and duplication of the data (Callaghan et al 2018), there is great appreciation for the use of citizen science as a research tool (i.e.…”

“…Some argue that citizen science emerged as part of the development of the environmental movement in the 1960s and 1970s (Cunha et al 2017). Despite reservations regarding the use of citizen science which focus on the quality and reliability of the data collected by unpracticed citizens (Cunha et al 2017), and duplication of the data (Callaghan et al 2018), there is great appreciation for the use of citizen science as a research tool (i.e. Paige et al 2015).…”