CSA 2017

Advancing Data Sharing in Citizen Science: Considering the Role of Interoperability and Standardization
Organizer: Anne Bowser
In the context of citizen science (CS), interoperability may be broadly considered the ability of systems, people and/or projects to exchange data and other information. There are at least three paths towards interoperability in CS. First, projects may produce interoperable data if they collect compatible information, for example when two projects agree on similar protocols. In these cases, humans must manually create crosswalks before data can be exchanged. Second, projects may be interoperable if each collects data in accordance with a common disciplinary standard, such as the Darwin Core standard for biodiversity information. Third, projects may design protocols based on a common, flexible data model. These later two approaches both allow machines to share data without human intervention. However, the use of disciplinary standards may limit data sharing with researchers outside of a particular domain. The goal of this symposium is to raise awareness of key considerations related to interoperability and the use of standards, as well as to share and discuss a range of practices related to interoperability in citizen science. Drawing on research and case studies, talks will address the following considerations: How do stakeholders within and beyond the CS community perceive data, interoperability, and standards? How might different community members be impacted by an initiative to promote CS standards? What are the benefits and challenges to implementing the various approaches toward interoperability? What are some successful case studies of interoperability and data sharing between citizen science projects? What can be learned from these experiences? 

PRESENTATIONS:

Advancing and mobilizing citizen science data through an integrated sustainable cyber-infrastructure
Russell Scarpino, CitSci.org, Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University

Bridging discrepancies across North American butterfly naming authorities: Supporting citizen science data integration
Leslie Ries, Georgetown University

Citizen science data and metadata standardization across the globe: What are the issues for stakeholders?
Victoria Martin, Southern Cross University

Data Sharing and Visualization on Multiple Platforms: Citizen Science Connections for GLOBE Observer's Mobile App
Russanne Low, GLOBE Observer, IGES

SWE4CS: A data model to enhance reusability of citizen science observations
Ingo Simonis, Open Geospatial

Are Citizen Science and Crowdsourcing the Same? An Investigation on the Role of Framing on Participant Outcomes
Amanda Sorensen* - Rutgers University; Rebecca Jordan - Rutgers University

If You Don't Call It Citizen Science, What Happens to Participation?
Rhiannon Crain* - Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Poppy McLeod - Cornell University; Janis Dickinson - Cornell University; Jonathon Schuldt - Cornell University; Hwansuck Song - Cornell University

Public Perceptions of Citizen Science
Karen Oberhauser* - University of Minnesota; Eva Lewandowski - Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources; Wendy Caldwell - University of Minnesota; Dane Elmquist - USDA-ARS

Why Cit Sci? Say What You Mean and Mean What You Say
Tiffany Beachy - Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont

"Mosquitoes & Me Rocks the House": Youth Entomology in the Urban Ecosystem
Katherine Richardson Bruna* - Iowa State University; Lyric Bartholomay - University of Madison at Wisconsin; Gale Seiler - Iowa State University

DNA Barcoding: Engaging Students in Molecular Biology and Bioinformatics Through Authentic Biodiversity Research
Bruce Nash* - Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory; Sharon Pepenella - Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory; Cristina Fernandez-Marco - Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory; Christine Marizzi - Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory; Dave Micklos - Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Dragonfly Detectives: Engaging 4th-8th Graders in Authentic Science in the Field
Christine Goforth - North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences

Start Them Early! Get Elementary Students Involved in Studying Climate Using a Module Storybook and Learning Activities from the GLOBE Program
John McLaughlin - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); Sarah McCrea - NASA

Empowering Communities to Contribute to Flood Risk Management Policy Through Citizen Science
Avinoam Baruch* - Loughborough University; Dapeng Yu - Loughborough University; Andrew May - Loughborough University

Aquatic Citizen Science: A Sound Investment
Julie Vastine* - Alliance for Aquatic Resource Monitoring

FreshWater Watch: Lessons and Outcomes from a Global Citizen Science Program
Ian Thornhill* - Earthwatch Instutute; Steven Loiselle - Earthwatch Instutute; Diana Eddowes - Earthwatch Institute; Rita Galdos - Earthwatch Institute

Using Volunteer Data to Improve Stream Health
Jeri Fleming - Oklahoma Conservation Commission

Citizen Environmental Science and Science Education
Dixon Butler - Butler Consulting; Darlene Cavalier - SciStarter; Jennifer Hammonds - National WildlifeFederation Eco-Schools USA Program; Tony Murphy - The GLOBE Implementation Office; Sheri Potter -SciStarter

Citizen Science as a Springboard in the Practice of Science and Developing Scientific Explanations with Independent Student Directed Science Fair Projects
Michele Koomen - Gustavus Adolphus College; Elizabeth Schutz - Clear Springs Elementary School; AlissaHoffman - Gustavus Adolphus College; Cindy Peterson - St. Hubert School

How to Raise a New Generation of Citizen Scientists and Environmental Stewards in 7 Easy Steps
Laura Herszenhorn - California Academy of Sciences

Hack Days and ThinkCamps for Citizen Science
Margaret Gold - Natural History Museum London

Using Schoolyard Bioblitzes and Open Science Resources to Build Scientific Skills and Understanding of the Nature of Science for Classroom Learning
Amy Lorenz - Encyclopedia of Life / Harvard University

Engaging and Supporting Teachers in Curriculum-Based Citizen Science
Sara Ludovise - Crystal Cove Alliance

Enlisting Formal Educators as Partners in Conservation
Judith Hutton* - New York Botanical Garden; Candyce Johnson - Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Teaching with Citizen Science: An Exploratory Study of Teachers' Motivations and Perceptions
Georgia Bracey - University of Missouri - St. Louis

Advancing Open-Access Science Education Through Responsible Citizen Science Journalism
Kate Stone - Science Connected

The Challenges of Being a Citizen Researcher ('Uh, Who Are You Exactly and Who Are You With???')
Ed Harris - Scleroderma Education Project Ltd

Citizen Science - Innovation in Open Science, Society and Policy
Aletta Bonn* - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research/ German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig; Muki Haklay - University College London; Susanne Hecker - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research/German Centre for integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig; Anne Bowser - Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars; Zen Makuch - Imperial College London, UK; Johannes Vogel - Museum fr Naturkunde Berlin; Roger Owen - Scotish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA)

One Billion Wildlife Observations: Crowdsourcing Digital Collections
Organizer: Lucy Robinson
Natural sciences collections around the world comprise more than one billion specimens, representing a vast source of information on the natural world. Natural History Museums and similar institutions hold and care for these collections on behalf of us all - they are an international public resource. Mobilising these data for research, conservation and public use is a formidable task - and one that is ideally suited to citizen science. Using the power of the crowd to extract, transcribe, interpret and/or analyse data from handwritten labels brings the scale of the task within reach within our lifetimes. This symposium brings together international examples of crowdsourcing platforms, and highlights practical tools and advice for setting up and running a crowdsourcing project. We share innovative ideas for engaging broad global audiences in this endeavour and tips for supporting and nurturing an online community of citizen scientists including the similarities and differences to face-to-face engagement and training. Crowdsourcing by its nature is a big data movement, and we will demonstrate existing tools and new ones under development that can facilitate open data sharing and the onward use of data for education, conservation and ongoing research. Finally, such a task doesn't come without significant challenges and opportunities! We share our lessons learned, highlight issues we are still facing and invite suggestions and collaborations from the audience to overcome these.

PRESENTATIONS:

Challenges, opportunities and the future of crowdsourcing collections data
Helen Hardy, Natural History Museum London

Connecting the dots, volunteers, and projects: Growing beyond goals with greater engagement
Meghan Ferriter, Smithsonian Institution

Notes from Nature - Using the Zooniverse platform as a collaborative project
Michael Denslow, Florida Museum of Natural History

Worldwide Engagement for Digitizing Biocollections: WeDigBio, the global transcription event
Elizabeth Ellwood, iDigBio, Florida State University

Integrating Citizen Science into Conservation Resource Management: Strategies and Impacts
Organizers: Jana Newman - US Fish and Wildlife Service; Leda Dunmire, The Pew Charitable Trusts, US Oceans Program, SE
The benefits that result when management agencies successfully integrate citizen science efforts into their resource management strategies have been well documented and yet, efforts to do so are still met with resistance despite strong support over the past few years from the Office of Science and Technology Policy of the White House. Acceptance that the investment is worthwhile and citizen science can provide credible scientific information is lacking. Acceptance can be further challenged in cases where resource management decisions are complex or controversial, decision-making procedures can be institutionalizedand potentially political, analysts can be dismissive of non-professional data, and contributors can risk consequences for livelihoods if decisions based on that data are not favorable. And yet, in the best of cases, citizen science has the potential to address data gaps and build trust for management decisions that reflect stakeholder input. Join us in an open discussion with our panel representing resource management agencies, conservation NGO partners, and project managers and researchers. After a short introduction we will open with two, 5-minute case studies illustrating the benefits and opportunities of citizen science for resource management, as well as the challenges agencies can face in pursuing those opportunities. Following that, two 10-minute presentations will share transferable lessons learned from years of implementation, evaluation, and listening to multiple stakeholders. We will close with a panel inviting audience contributions to a discussion about strategies for overcoming barriers to successfully integrate citizen science efforts into resource management.

PRESENTATIONS:

Introduction to Symposium
Leda Dunmire, The Pew Charitable Trusts, US Oceans Program, SE; Jana Newman, USFWS

Strategic Habitat Conservation with a little help from our friends.
Jana Newman,  I&M Branch Chief, US Fish and Wildlife Service

New possibilities and challenges for citizen science in fisheries management
Laura Oremland, NOAA Fisheries udents Discover Project

Citizen Science for Conservation Solutions: A COASSTal Model of Real-time Monitoring and Response
Hillary Burgess, Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team/COASST

Engaging Public Land Ranchers in Citizen Science: From Rancher Monitoring on Grazing Allotments to Rancher Participation in Collaborative Adaptive Management
María E. Fernández-Giménez, Department of Forest & Rangeland Stewardship, Colorado State University

Discussion

Bringing Citizen Science into Land Management: A Case Study of the Bosque Ecosystem Monitoring Program
Rowan Converse* - Bosque Ecosystem Monitoring Program; Dan Shaw - Bosque Ecosystem Monitoring Program; Kim Eichhorst - Bosque Ecosystem Monitoring Program; May Leinhart - Bosque Ecosystem Monitoring Program

Engaging Citizens to Conserve Slender Loris in Urban Bangalore, India
Kaberi Kar Gupta - Urban Slender Loris Project

Ecological Citizenship: Communication, Engagement, Motivation and Adaptation Fostering Low Impact Sustainable Urban Drainage (LISUD)
Dawn Purves - University of Kingston

What Makes Citizen Science Useful for Environmental Decision-Making?
Ryan Meyer* - UC Davis Center for Community and Citizen Science; Heidi Ballard - University of California, Davis

Does Citizen Science Really Contribute to Nature Conservation? Sharing Evidence from Natural History Museums
Lucy Robinson* - Natural History Museum London; Heidi Ballard - University of California, Davis; Alison Young - California Academy of Sciences; Greg Pauly - Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County; Lila Higgins - Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County; Rebecca Johnson - California Academy of Sciences; John Tweddle - Natural History Museum London

New Methods New Knowledge: The Implications of Applying a Citizen Science Method to the Pharmaceutical Industry
Leah Morris - The University of King's College

Transforming How Hispanics Learn Science: An Emergent Informal Science Educational Model
Yogani Govender - Inter American University of Puerto Rico

Weather, Climate and Citizens: What Can a Meteorological Institute Get from Citizen Science?
Atte Harjanne* - Finnish Meteorological Institute; Heikki Tuomenvirta - Finnish Meteorological Institute

Citizen Science Communication - Connecting Across Disciplines
Organizer: Susanne Hecker - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research/German Centre for integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig
"Citizen science is one of the most dramatic developments in science communication in the last generation." Bruce V. Lewenstein (Lewenstein, 2016) Citizen science and science communication are both relatively young and highly inter- and transdisciplinary fields of research (Gascoigne et al., 2010; Jordan, Crall, Gray, Phillips, & Mellor, 2015). This symposium is a first cut to explore how the respective underlying concepts intertwine in theory and practice, and invites researchers and practitioners of both fields. Following Lewenstein's quote, we need to ask: how does citizen science contribute to the dramatic development in science communication? What is new and innovative about it? What is the development? Undeniably, science communication in citizen science has moved from a one-way communication towards a multi-directional exchange (Trench, 2006). From a citizen science perspective, we ask: What opportunities does science communication provide for citizen science activities beyond outreach? Where can science communication help citizen science project coordinators to face the challenges throughout the process? How can science communication empower all those involved in citizen science for enhanced exchange and reasoning? Citizen science and the process of engaging stakeholders and participants needs adequate flexibility as dialogue and interaction might develop in unforeseen ways and need respective translation process. The aim of this symposium is to investigate the synthesis and innovative potential of citizen science and science communication. We want to shed light on theory and best practice of citizen science communication as well as allow for dialogue and convergence of both disciplines to eventually cross-fertilise.

PRESENTATIONS:

Beyond the deficit model - Communication in citizen science
Susanne Hecker, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research/German Centre for integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig

Citizen Journalism as a tool/new skill for citizen science projects - Best case study, Futurium Berlin, Germany
Monique Luckas, Futurium gGmbH

Science and Public Engagement
Bernard Schiele, Faculty of Communication, University of Quebec at Montreal, Canada

What are the interesting questions about citizen science?
Bruce V. Lewenstein, Cornell University

Exploring a Continuum of Involvement in a Citizen Science Program
Maria Sharova* - Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC); Alison Cawood - Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC)

The Process of Citizen Science. Lessons on Evaluating and Refining Citizen Science Projects
Megan Mueller* - Rocky Mountain Wild; Erica Garroutte - Denver Zoological Foundation; Heather Batts - Denver Zoological Foundation

Understanding Participants: Research on Participant Motivation and How to Use It in Practice
Anne Land-Zandstra* - Leiden University; Marjolein de Vries

Collaborative Modeling of Long-term Community-based Research Data in Rural Zimbabwe
M Eitzel - University of California, Santa Cruz; Emmanuel Mhike Hove - The Muonde Trust; Abraham Changarara - The Muonde Trust; Daniel Ndlovu - The Muonde Trust; Jon Solera - Seven Points Consulting; Alice Ndlovu - The Muonde Trust; Kleber Neves - Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro; Andre Veski - Tallinn University of Technology

Addressing the Needs and Motivations of Citizen Scientists Through a Virtual Research Center
Pamela Gay - Astronomical Society of the Pacific; Team CosmoQuest - Astronomical Society of the Pacific

Assessing Participant Demographics in a PPSR Project: Comparing Two Survey Techniques
Renee Lyons* - Clemson University; Michelle Cook - Clemson University; David White - Clemson University

Can Citizen Science Shift Attitudes? The Importance of Studying Participants
Stephanie Schuttler* - North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, North Carolina State University; Kathryn Stevenson - North Carolina State University; Robert Dunn - North Carolina State University; Roland Kays - North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences & NC State University

Engagement in Citizen Science: An Overview of Volunteer Motivation and Retention in the US Geological Survey's National Map Corps
Erin Korris* - United States Geological Survey; Elizabeth McCartney - U.S. Geological Survey

Taking on the Challenges of Broadening Participation in Data Visualization and Analysis with FieldScope
Daniel Edelson - BSCS

Patterns of Behaviour Across Online Citizen Science
Chris Lintott* - Zooniverse.org; Helen Spiers - University of Oxford; Grant Miller - University of Oxford / Zooniverse; Lucy Fortson - University of Minnesota; Laura Trouille - Adler Planetarium

Validated Dynamic Consensus Approach for Citizen Science Projects Employing Crowd-based Detection Tasks
Pietro Michelucci - Human Computation Institute

Working Together: Developers and Project Leads
Robert Pastel - Michigan Technological University

Using Partnerships to Leverage Limited Resources: The Biscayne Bay Drift Card Study
Chelle King* - Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science; Laura Bracken - University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science; Rebecca Peterson - Vizcaya Museum and Gardens

What Is the Role of Academic-Community Partnership Capacity in Adaptive Drought Communication? Lessons from Open Public Meetings
Nicole Colston* - Oklahoma State University; Jacqueline Vadjunec - Oklahoma State University/ Department of Geography; Todd Fagin - Oklahoma Biological Survey

Measures to Facilitate Collaboration Between Citizen Science Projects - an Approach for Sharing Resources
Barbara Heinisch - University of Vienna, Centre for Translation Studies