Citizen Science Project Design

Jennifer Shirk Cornell Lab of Ornithology/Citizen Science Association

South Atlantic Fisheries Management Council

January 2015

https://www.flickr.com/photos/usfwssoutheast/4804351953

http://www.flickr.com/photos/crb/103586567/

Photo, MLMP photo gallery

PROJECT, PROGRAM, FRAMEWORK?

PROJECT:

PROGRAM:

Canadian Community Monitoring Network

(Pollock and Whitelaw 2005; Vaughan et al 2003)

Participant engagement

Identify goals:

Science

Policy/action

Participants

Establish capacity:

Staff

Volunteers

Partners

Design/refine:

Question/protocol

Training

Infrastructure

Manage:

Participation

Data

Expectations

Apply and adapt:

Research/action

Determine effectiveness

Transparency

Sustainability/accountability

Components of project design

Citizen Science Project

Identify goals

Establish capacity

Design/refine Manage

Apply and adapt

Citizen Science Project

Identify goals

Establish capacity

Design/refine Manage

Apply and adapt

Participant engagement

Bonney et al. 2009; Shirk et al. 2012; Stepenuck in press

Define a question/issue Gather information Develop explanations Design data collection methods Collect samples Analyze samples Analyze data Interpret data/conclude Disseminate conclusions Discuss results/inquire further

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Ability to network with researchers, fishermen, and other stakeholders

Seeing the data used in stock assessments and/or for management decisions

Having an active role in the science that is used to manage my fisheries

“Synergistic interaction between scientists and fishers. Co-learning and jointly

developing ideas for solving problems and achieving desired goals.”

Open communication Issues of trust, reciprocity, accountability

Transparency about goals and outcomes

Participant engagement

Citizen Science Project

Identify goals

Establish capacity

Design/refine Manage

Apply and adapt

Identify/align goals

Science

Policy/ action

Participants

Identify/align goals

Science

Policy/ action

Participants

Accessibility Appropriate amount Believability Completeness Concise representation Consistent representation Ease of manipulation Free of error Interpretability

Identify/align goals

Objectivity Relevancy Reputation Security Timeliness Understandability Value-added … (from Hunter et al. 2012)

Data “quality” --->Data integrity

Canadian Community Monitoring Network

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Data

**Identify information needs and data users at the outset

• Set quality objectives • Relevant to goals and concerns

(US EPA 1990)

Identify/align goals

Citizen Science Project

Identify goals

Establish capacity

Design/refine Manage

Apply and adapt

Establish capacity Partners

Staff

Volunteers

Where can you efficiently access the skills and resources needed to be effective? Where does the capacity already exist that you can leverage?

“... even though it makes me uncomfortable, I’m thinking about ways to communicate/interact on a regular and frequent basis with the science education community ”

Citizen Science Project

Identify goals

Establish capacity

Design/refine Manage

Apply and adapt

Design/refine

Question/protocol

Training Infrastructure

ALLARM: Alliance for Aquatic Resource Monitoring

(Bowser et al Data policy primer, DataONE)

Citizen Science Project

Identify goals

Establish capacity

Design/refine Manage

Apply and adapt

Manage

Participation Data Expectations

(Wiggins et al Data management guide, DataONE)

(EPA Workbook, Quality assurance project plans)

Manage

Participation Data Expectations

Data access, visualization

Citizen Science Project

Identify goals

Establish capacity

Design/refine Manage

Apply and adapt

Apply/adapt

Determine effectiveness

Research/ action

Transparency

Ability to network with researchers, fishermen, and other stakeholders

Seeing the data used in stock assessments and/or for management decisions

Having an active role in the science that is used to manage my fisheries

Citizen Science Project

Identify goals

Establish capacity

Design/refine Manage

Apply and adapt

A program can provide continuity Institutional knowledge/memory

Track impacts (ROI)

Point of contact/trust

Celebration/recognition

Sustainability/accountability

Atlantic Coastal Action Program

Sustained funding --> high efficiency, high quality

Low capacity --> no core staff, no consistent work

www.flickr.com/photos/novaseeker/15023838371/

PROJECT, PROGRAM, FRAMEWORK?

Build on relationships

Find shared value

Establish partnerships

Leverage existing resources

…

Insights from…

Owen Boyle WI Dept. of Natural Resources

Maria Fernandez-Gimenez Colorado State University

Muki Haklay University College London

Greg Newman Colorado State University

Rajul Pandya American Geological Society

Michael Pocock Centre for Ecology and Hydrology

Jennifer Shirk jls223@cornell.edu

Rick Bonney reb5@cornell.edu

Kris Stepenuck University of Wisconsin, Madison

Julie Vastine Dickinson College

Jake Weltzin USGS

Sarah Weston Saint Mary’s University

Graham Whitelaw Queen’s University

… and key documents.

(via the Wilson Center)

“... even though it makes me uncomfortable, I’m thinking about ways to communicate/interact on a regular and frequent basis with the science education community ”

Synthesis of insights from experts:

Owen Boyle WI Dept. of Natural Resources

Maria Fernandez-Gimenez Colorado State University

Muki Haklay University College London

Greg Newman Colorado State University

Rajul Pandya American Geological Society

Michael Pocock Centre for Ecology and Hydrology

Kris Stepenuck University of Wisconsin, Madison

Julie Vastine Dickinson College

Jake Weltzin USGS

Sarah Weston Saint Mary’s University

Graham Whitelaw Queen’s University

… and key documents.