Evolving interest and sense of self in an environmental citizen science program

Abstract

Citizen science is a growing phenomenon across many branches of environmental science facilitating both increased science literacy and the collection of highly rigorous, longitudinal data. Understanding the motivations of adults to join and remain active in citizen science programs is important as the diversity and abundance of opportunities for public participation in science grow. We conducted a mixed-methods study of newly recruited and "seasoned" (1 year plus) participants in the Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team, a hands-on, environmental citizen science program focused on adult coastal residents, to explore the degree to which engagement, measured as time in the program, influenced motivation. We used constructs of functionalism, person-object theory of interest, and activity theoretic approaches to situational identity to deconstruct motivation into three interacting components: objects of interest, actions directed toward those objects, and situated senses of self. Newly recruited participants came with a strong interest in being outside on the beach and learning about birds and saw themselves as data collectors defined in part by their birding and degree/ job-based credentials and their social relationships. By contrast, seasoned participants aligned their interests and situational identity more directly with the program, calling out the importance of program data and results, elevating science-based actions such as monitoring over learning, intensifying their desire to contribute to science, subjugating individual attributes in favor of their science identity, and increasing their sense of self-worth attached to the project. Our results suggest that hands-on, environmental citizen science programs focused on adults should shape their data collector roles and projects around context-specific motivations including senses of place and biodiversity, support both the altruistic and self-interest needs of participants, and combine rigorous science experience with social interaction.

Shapeshifting attachment: Exploring multi‐dimensional people–place bonds in place‐based citizen science

“…As noted above, our work with COASST participants to date indicates a demonstrative, multidimensional and multiscalar attachment to place (Haywood, 2015(Haywood, , 2019, and a shift in the motivating factors and situated identity of participants as they move from who they were when they joined the programme to who they are years later as central members of the community of practice (Wenger, 1998) that is COASST (He et al, 2019). in which the participants are not physically connected to the place, as in the highly popular Zooniverse programme Snapshot Serengeti (Swanson et al, 2015) in which nearly 30,000 participants help to definitively identify camera-trapped animals in locations they have never (or rarely) visited except within the online environment.…”

“…However, many COASST participants also demonstrated attachment to non-living elements at their survey site, a facet we refer to as 'environment' as distinguished from nature, or the living components. He et al (2019) found that the strongest motivator of continued engagement for seasoned COASST participants was simply a desire to be outdoors on the beach, without reference to particular elements of nature. The seasoned participant below, for example, notes the sand, water and smell of the place as reasons for their attachment and desire to protect the survey site.…”

“…Natural environment pole nature bonding environment bonding science affinity familiarity or comfort with the place arising out of repeated visitation and/or multiple ways of knowing (Haywood, 2019;Haywood et al, 2016). He et al (2019) found that both seasoned COASST participants and those new to the programme were motivated to join/ remain based on strong connections to the beach environment and to birds, and through their social connections to friends and family.…”

“…Haywood et al (2016) found that feelings of place attachment were often linked directly to learning more about the ecology of the place (62%) and seasoned participants reported a greater appreciation for their beach ecosystem through repeated visits and the chance to collect data on the birds there. Science affinity is an aspect of the participant experience that seems to increase with participation: seasoned participants tended to identify themselves more strongly with science, including as members of the 'science team' (He et al, 2019). Furthermore, Haywood et al (2016) found that 66% of the seasoned participants interviewed perceived the information they were collecting through systematic science was an active way to help protect or conserve their beach and, more broadly, the coastal environment.…”

“…Evidence from our research suggests that the shape of PAT is not fixed and may shift as a function of the citizen science activities and place-based experiences individuals accrue over time. He et al (2019) and Haywood et al (2016) both demonstrated significant differences in thinking, place interaction and identity between the population of individuals just joining the COASST programme-'new' participantsand those who had engaged in the programme for one to several years-'seasoned' participants. These findings suggest that either PAT shape changes as participants grow into seasoned COASST data collectors, some attachment 'shape profiles' persist in the COASST participant population longer than others, or, most likely, both.…”