Citizen science in environmental and ecological sciences

Dilek Fraisl; Gerid Hager; Baptiste Bedessem; Margaret Gold; Pen Yuan Hsing; Finn Danielsen; Colleen B. Hitchcock; Joseph M. Hulbert; Jaume Piera; Helen Spiers; Martin Thiel; Mordechai Haklay

doi:10.1038/s43586-022-00144-4

Citizen science in environmental and ecological sciences

Dilek Fraisl
, Gerid Hager
, Baptiste Bedessem
, Margaret Gold
, Pen Yuan Hsing
, Finn Danielsen
, Colleen B. Hitchcock
, Joseph M. Hulbert
, Jaume Piera
, Helen Spiers
, Martin Thiel
, Mordechai Haklay

Faculty of Law

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

Citizen science is an increasingly acknowledged approach applied in many scientific domains, and particularly within the environmental and ecological sciences, in which non-professional participants contribute to data collection to advance scientific research. We present contributory citizen science as a valuable method to scientists and practitioners within the environmental and ecological sciences, focusing on the full life cycle of citizen science practice, from design to implementation, evaluation and data management. We highlight key issues in citizen science and how to address them, such as participant engagement and retention, data quality assurance and bias correction, as well as ethical considerations regarding data sharing. We also provide a range of examples to illustrate the diversity of applications, from biodiversity research and land cover assessment to forest health monitoring and marine pollution. The aspects of reproducibility and data sharing are considered, placing citizen science within an encompassing open science perspective. Finally, we discuss its limitations and challenges and present an outlook for the application of citizen science in multiple science domains.

Original language	English
Article number	64
Journal	Nature Reviews. Methods Primers
Volume	2
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s43586-022-00144-4
Publication status	Published - Dec 2022

Funding

The work of C.B.H. was supported by a Brandeis University Provost Research grant. The work of D.F. was supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research And Innovation Programme EU-Citizen.Science project (under grant agreement number 824580). The work of F.D. was supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research And Innovation Programme INTAROS, CAPARDUS and FRAMEwork projects (under grant agreement numbers 727890, 869673 and 862731), and the Danish Agency for Science and Higher Education through the UArctic Thematic Network on Collaborative Resource Management. The work of G.H. was supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme EU-Citizen.Science and FRAMEwork projects (under grant agreement numbers 824580 and 862731). The work of J.M.H. was supported by the AFRI Postdoctoral Fellowship grant 2020-67034-31766 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. The work of J.P. was supported by the European Union’s H2020 Research And Innovation Programme Cos4Cloud project (under grant agreement number 863463); J.P. also acknowledges the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S). The work of M.H. was supported by the European Union’s ERC Advanced Grant project ‘European Citizen Science: Analysis and Visualisation’ (under grant agreement number 694767); and the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research And Innovation Programme EU-Citizen.Science and TIME4CS projects (under grant agreement numbers 824580 and 101006201). The work of M.T. was supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research And Innovation Programme MINKE project (under grant agreement number 101008724). The work of P.-Y.H. was supported by P. Stephens, Department of Biosciences, Durham University, UK; the Belmont Community School, Durham, UK; the Durham Wildlife Trust, Durham, UK; the United Kingdom Heritage Lottery Fund (grant numbers OH-14-06474, OM-21-00458 and RH-16-09501); the British Ecological Society; the United Kingdom Economic and Social Research Council Impact Acceleration Account, Durham University (grant numbers TESS–ESLE2012 and 030-15/16, and a Doctoral Scholarship); the United Kingdom Natural Environment Research Council (NE/R008485/1); the European Food Safety Authority (grant numbers OC/EFSA/ALPHA/2016/01–01 and OC/EFSA/AMU/2018/02); a HMP and YOI Deerbolt Operational Innovation Award, and the Royal Society (grant number PG\S2\192047).

Funders	Funder number
AFRI	2020-67034-31766
Brandeis University Provost Research
Durham Wildlife Trust
European Union’s ERC	101006201, 101008724
European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research And Innovation Programme EU-Citizen
FRAMEwork
Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence	CEX2019-000928-S
UArctic Thematic Network on Collaborative Resource Management
United Kingdom Heritage Lottery Fund	OH-14-06474, OM-21-00458, RH-16-09501
United Kingdom Natural Environment Research Council	NE/R008485/1
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Horizon 2020 Framework Programme	869673, 694767, 727890, 824580, 863463, 862731
European Food Safety Authority	OC/EFSA/AMU/2018/02, OC/EFSA/ALPHA/2016/01–01
Economic and Social Research Council
Royal Society	PG\S2\192047
british ecological society
Durham University	030-15/16, TESS–ESLE2012
Danish Agency for Science and Higher Education

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 2 Zero Hunger
SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production
SDG 14 Life Below Water
SDG 15 Life on Land

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10.1038/s43586-022-00144-4

s43586-022-00144-4Final published version, 1.84 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "Citizen science in environmental and ecological sciences",

abstract = "Citizen science is an increasingly acknowledged approach applied in many scientific domains, and particularly within the environmental and ecological sciences, in which non-professional participants contribute to data collection to advance scientific research. We present contributory citizen science as a valuable method to scientists and practitioners within the environmental and ecological sciences, focusing on the full life cycle of citizen science practice, from design to implementation, evaluation and data management. We highlight key issues in citizen science and how to address them, such as participant engagement and retention, data quality assurance and bias correction, as well as ethical considerations regarding data sharing. We also provide a range of examples to illustrate the diversity of applications, from biodiversity research and land cover assessment to forest health monitoring and marine pollution. The aspects of reproducibility and data sharing are considered, placing citizen science within an encompassing open science perspective. Finally, we discuss its limitations and challenges and present an outlook for the application of citizen science in multiple science domains.",

author = "Dilek Fraisl and Gerid Hager and Baptiste Bedessem and Margaret Gold and Hsing, \{Pen Yuan\} and Finn Danielsen and Hitchcock, \{Colleen B.\} and Hulbert, \{Joseph M.\} and Jaume Piera and Helen Spiers and Martin Thiel and Mordechai Haklay",

note = "Funding Information: The work of C.B.H. was supported by a Brandeis University Provost Research grant. The work of D.F. was supported by the European Union{\textquoteright}s Horizon 2020 Research And Innovation Programme EU-Citizen.Science project (under grant agreement number 824580). The work of F.D. was supported by the European Union{\textquoteright}s Horizon 2020 Research And Innovation Programme INTAROS, CAPARDUS and FRAMEwork projects (under grant agreement numbers 727890, 869673 and 862731), and the Danish Agency for Science and Higher Education through the UArctic Thematic Network on Collaborative Resource Management. The work of G.H. was supported by the European Union{\textquoteright}s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme EU-Citizen.Science and FRAMEwork projects (under grant agreement numbers 824580 and 862731). The work of J.M.H. was supported by the AFRI Postdoctoral Fellowship grant 2020-67034-31766 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. The work of J.P. was supported by the European Union{\textquoteright}s H2020 Research And Innovation Programme Cos4Cloud project (under grant agreement number 863463); J.P. also acknowledges the {\textquoteleft}Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence{\textquoteright} accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S). The work of M.H. was supported by the European Union{\textquoteright}s ERC Advanced Grant project {\textquoteleft}European Citizen Science: Analysis and Visualisation{\textquoteright} (under grant agreement number 694767); and the European Union{\textquoteright}s Horizon 2020 Research And Innovation Programme EU-Citizen.Science and TIME4CS projects (under grant agreement numbers 824580 and 101006201). The work of M.T. was supported by the European Union{\textquoteright}s Horizon 2020 Research And Innovation Programme MINKE project (under grant agreement number 101008724). The work of P.-Y.H. was supported by P. Stephens, Department of Biosciences, Durham University, UK; the Belmont Community School, Durham, UK; the Durham Wildlife Trust, Durham, UK; the United Kingdom Heritage Lottery Fund (grant numbers OH-14-06474, OM-21-00458 and RH-16-09501); the British Ecological Society; the United Kingdom Economic and Social Research Council Impact Acceleration Account, Durham University (grant numbers TESS–ESLE2012 and 030-15/16, and a Doctoral Scholarship); the United Kingdom Natural Environment Research Council (NE/R008485/1); the European Food Safety Authority (grant numbers OC/EFSA/ALPHA/2016/01–01 and OC/EFSA/AMU/2018/02); a HMP and YOI Deerbolt Operational Innovation Award, and the Royal Society (grant number PG\textbackslash{}S2\textbackslash{}192047). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022, Springer Nature Limited.",

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month = dec,

doi = "10.1038/s43586-022-00144-4",

language = "English",

volume = "2",

journal = "Nature Reviews. Methods Primers",

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AU - Hager, Gerid

AU - Bedessem, Baptiste

AU - Gold, Margaret

AU - Hsing, Pen Yuan

AU - Danielsen, Finn

AU - Hitchcock, Colleen B.

AU - Hulbert, Joseph M.

AU - Piera, Jaume

AU - Spiers, Helen

AU - Thiel, Martin

AU - Haklay, Mordechai

N1 - Funding Information: The work of C.B.H. was supported by a Brandeis University Provost Research grant. The work of D.F. was supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research And Innovation Programme EU-Citizen.Science project (under grant agreement number 824580). The work of F.D. was supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research And Innovation Programme INTAROS, CAPARDUS and FRAMEwork projects (under grant agreement numbers 727890, 869673 and 862731), and the Danish Agency for Science and Higher Education through the UArctic Thematic Network on Collaborative Resource Management. The work of G.H. was supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme EU-Citizen.Science and FRAMEwork projects (under grant agreement numbers 824580 and 862731). The work of J.M.H. was supported by the AFRI Postdoctoral Fellowship grant 2020-67034-31766 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. The work of J.P. was supported by the European Union’s H2020 Research And Innovation Programme Cos4Cloud project (under grant agreement number 863463); J.P. also acknowledges the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S). The work of M.H. was supported by the European Union’s ERC Advanced Grant project ‘European Citizen Science: Analysis and Visualisation’ (under grant agreement number 694767); and the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research And Innovation Programme EU-Citizen.Science and TIME4CS projects (under grant agreement numbers 824580 and 101006201). The work of M.T. was supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research And Innovation Programme MINKE project (under grant agreement number 101008724). The work of P.-Y.H. was supported by P. Stephens, Department of Biosciences, Durham University, UK; the Belmont Community School, Durham, UK; the Durham Wildlife Trust, Durham, UK; the United Kingdom Heritage Lottery Fund (grant numbers OH-14-06474, OM-21-00458 and RH-16-09501); the British Ecological Society; the United Kingdom Economic and Social Research Council Impact Acceleration Account, Durham University (grant numbers TESS–ESLE2012 and 030-15/16, and a Doctoral Scholarship); the United Kingdom Natural Environment Research Council (NE/R008485/1); the European Food Safety Authority (grant numbers OC/EFSA/ALPHA/2016/01–01 and OC/EFSA/AMU/2018/02); a HMP and YOI Deerbolt Operational Innovation Award, and the Royal Society (grant number PG\S2\192047). Publisher Copyright: © 2022, Springer Nature Limited.

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N2 - Citizen science is an increasingly acknowledged approach applied in many scientific domains, and particularly within the environmental and ecological sciences, in which non-professional participants contribute to data collection to advance scientific research. We present contributory citizen science as a valuable method to scientists and practitioners within the environmental and ecological sciences, focusing on the full life cycle of citizen science practice, from design to implementation, evaluation and data management. We highlight key issues in citizen science and how to address them, such as participant engagement and retention, data quality assurance and bias correction, as well as ethical considerations regarding data sharing. We also provide a range of examples to illustrate the diversity of applications, from biodiversity research and land cover assessment to forest health monitoring and marine pollution. The aspects of reproducibility and data sharing are considered, placing citizen science within an encompassing open science perspective. Finally, we discuss its limitations and challenges and present an outlook for the application of citizen science in multiple science domains.

AB - Citizen science is an increasingly acknowledged approach applied in many scientific domains, and particularly within the environmental and ecological sciences, in which non-professional participants contribute to data collection to advance scientific research. We present contributory citizen science as a valuable method to scientists and practitioners within the environmental and ecological sciences, focusing on the full life cycle of citizen science practice, from design to implementation, evaluation and data management. We highlight key issues in citizen science and how to address them, such as participant engagement and retention, data quality assurance and bias correction, as well as ethical considerations regarding data sharing. We also provide a range of examples to illustrate the diversity of applications, from biodiversity research and land cover assessment to forest health monitoring and marine pollution. The aspects of reproducibility and data sharing are considered, placing citizen science within an encompassing open science perspective. Finally, we discuss its limitations and challenges and present an outlook for the application of citizen science in multiple science domains.

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DO - 10.1038/s43586-022-00144-4

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85137564847

VL - 2

JO - Nature Reviews. Methods Primers

JF - Nature Reviews. Methods Primers

IS - 1

M1 - 64

ER -

Citizen science in environmental and ecological sciences

Abstract

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UN SDGs

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