Gitte Kragh: Citizen science: Overview, origins and opportunities through a motivational lens

Citizen science
Overview, origins & opportunities through a motivational lens
Gitte Kragh - gitte@citizenscience.dk

Volunteering for leatherback turtles…

Synopsis
1) What is citizen science?
2) What are the origins of citizen science?
3) What is citizen science today?
4) What are some challenges and opportunities for
citizen science?

Citizen science – what is it?
“Scientific work undertaken by members of the general public,
often in collaboration with or under the direction of
professional scientists or scientific institutions”
(Oxford English Dictionary)
➢ Wide range of activities
➢ Within a wide range of scientific fields

Citizen science – what is it?
Other names used for partnerships between scientists
and non-scientists to conduct scientific research:
➢ Public participation in scientific research
➢ Participatory research
➢ Community science
➢ Community-based monitoring
➢ Activist science
➢ Action research

ECSA’s 10 principles of citizen science
1. Citizen science projects actively involve citizens in scientific endeavour that
generates new knowledge or understanding.
2. Citizen science projects have a genuine science outcome.
3. Both the professional scientists and the citizen scientists benefit from taking
part.
4. Citizen scientists may, if they wish, participate in multiple stages of the
scientific process.
5. Citizen scientists receive feedback from the project.
6. Citizen science is considered a research approach like any other, with
limitations and biases that should be considered and controlled for.
7. Citizen science project data and metadata are made publicly available and
where possible, results are published in an open-access format.
8. Citizen scientists are acknowledged in project results and publications.
9. Citizen science programmes are evaluated for their scientific output, data
quality, participant experience and wider societal or policy impact.
10.The leaders of citizen science projects take into consideration legal and ethical
issues surrounding copyright, intellectual property, data-sharing agreements,
confidentiality, attribution and the environmental impact of any activities.

Recording cherry blossoms in Japan
2) Citizen science – origins?
➢ Recorded since 850 by court diarists
➢ Cultural motivation as culturally
significant
➢Picnic under the blossoms
➢ Significance today:
➢ Cultural – people still have picnics!
➢ Ecologically – data show the effect of a
changing climate: flowering is now 10 days
earlier (15 -> 5 April)

Historical context
2) Citizen science – origins? Diagram after Muki Haklay 2017
Early science
(1600s- early 1800s)
Professional science
(late 1800s-1900s)
Opening science
(since 2000)
Illiteracy
Basic /
High school
Higher
Education
Citizen Science
as Gentlemen/
Gentlewomen
science

Charting the tides
William Whewell (1794-1866)
➢ Master of Trinity College, Cambridge
➢ 1835: 1000s recorded tides at 650 locations, two weeks, both
sides of the Atlantic
➢ Work or personal motivation
➢ Whewell was partly motivated by achievement -> tidal maps
& Royal Medal
➢ “Subordinate labourers” providing observations (pearls)
➢ Induction by ‘the scientist’ to make sense of observations
(stringing together the pearl necklace)
Caren Cooper blog: https://bit.ly/WhewellCitSci

Historical context
Early science
(1600s- early 1800s)
(late 1800s-1900s)
Opening science
(since 2000)
Illiteracy
Basic /
High school
Higher
Education
Citizen Science
as Gentlemen/
Gentlewomen
science
Citizen science
diminishing /
marginalised

Citizen science – by the late 1900s
➢ Volunteers used in many fields, e.g.:
➢ biological recording
➢ archaeology
➢ meteorology
➢ astronomy
➢ Frequently volunteers were not acknowledged, e.g. in
publications
➢ Expectation that volunteers had altruistic motives
➢ Growing sense of volunteers as untrustworthy

Citizen science – the term emerges
Contribution of observations to science
Audubon Society (1989) &
Rick Bonney (1996)
➢ Citizens collecting and analysing rain
samples
➢ Birdwatchers submitting sightings
➢ Participants are instruments
Democratisation of science
Alan Irwin (1995)
➢ Democratic, participatory science
➢ Science to address needs and
concerns of citizens
➢ Citizens could develop process of
producing reliable knowledge
themselves
➢ Participants can influence and
transform science
Activist science
Participatory action research
Community-based natural
ressource management
Biodiversity monitoring

Historical context
Early science
(1600s- early 1800s)
(late 1800s-1900s)
Opening science
(since 2000)
Illiteracy
Basic /
High school
Higher
Education
Citizen Science
as Gentlemen/
Gentlewomen
science
Citizen science
diminishing /
marginalised
Citizen science –
part of open &
inclusive science

Citizen science – why now?
Societal trends
➢ Education & qualifications
➢ Leisure time increasing
➢ Longevity & healthy aging
➢ Emergence of Open Science
Technological trends
➢ Internet access
➢ Mobile devices
➢ Geographical information
systems
➢ Sensors

What defines Citizen Science today?
➢ Varied range of activities
➢ Within many scientific fields
➢ Based on diverse motivations
➢ Scientists / other stakeholders
➢ Participants
➢ Seeking different outcomes

Increasing citizen science activities
3) What is citizen science today? - Activities
➢ Number and diversity of projects and fields
➢ Typologies
➢ People involved
➢ Length of time (participation / projects)
➢ Funding
➢ Public interest
➢ TV shows (The Crowd & The Cloud), news articles
➢ Meetings & conferences
➢ Scientific publications
➢ Many special issues on citizen science
➢Dedicated Citizen Science: Theory and Practice journal

Increasing citizen science activities
3) What is citizen science today? - Activities
➢ Number and diversity of projects and fields
➢ Typologies
➢ Funding
➢ Public interest
➢ TV shows (The Crowd & The Cloud), news articles
➢ Meetings & conferences
➢ Scientific publications
➢ Many special issues on citizen science
➢Dedicated Citizen Science: Theory and Practice journal

The 5Cs typology (Shirk et al. 2012)
CollegialContributory Collaborative Co-creationContractual
After Muki Haklay, 2017
Citizen
Science
Policy
High
High
Prioritisation
of research

The 5Cs typology (Shirk et al. 2012)
CollegialContributory Collaborative Co-creationContractual
After Muki Haklay, 2017
Citizens
in
Science
Policy
Medium
High
Prioritisation
of research

Ecological & environmental citizen science
3) What is citizen science today? - Typologies
Pocock et al. 2017

Citizen science in Denmark today
3) What is citizen science today? – Scientific fields
Citizen
science
Ecology
Health
Cultural
heritage
Quantum
physics
Meteorology
Sustainability
Natural
resource
managem.

Citizen science internationally
3) What is citizen science today? – Scientific fields
Citizen
science
Ecology
Health
Cultural
heritage
Archaeo-
logy
Quantum
physics
Meteoro-
logy
Sustain-
ability
Natural
resource
manage
Social
science
Astronomy
SDG
monitoring

Stakeholders’ motivations
3) What is citizen science today? - Motivation
Motivation Practi-
tioners
Policy
makers/
Evidence
Scientists
/ data
only
Scientists
To contribute to science
To inform policy
To inform conservation and land
management
To educate
To raise awareness and engage
people
To improve buy in
To building partnerships and improve
communication
To gain personal satisfaction
Geoghegan et al. 2016

Motivational matches – contributory projects
Geoghegan et al. 2016
Blue: Stakeholders
Orange: Participants
‘Translating’ and
communicating
matches to
participants can
be important

Motivational model
Values
Under-
standing
Recrea-
tion
Protec-
tive
Motiva-
tion
Social
Career
Based on Volunteer Functions Inventory (Clary et al. 1992)

Citizen scientists’ motivations
Motivational function Specific motivation Sources
Values
Interest in wildlife
Concern for the environment, wildlife
or conservation
Weston et al. 2006, Davies et al. 2011,
Hobbs and White 2012, Johnson et al.
2014, Wright et al. 2015, Geoghegan
et al. 2016, Martin et al. 2016
Contribution to science and data
collection
Davies et al. 2011, Hobbs and White
2012, Wright et al. 2015, Geoghegan
et al. 2016, Martin et al. 2016
Understanding
Desire to learn and exchange
knowledge
Bell et al. 2008, Thiel et al. 2014,
Martin et al. 2016
Recreation /
Enhancement
Opportunity to spend time in nature
or outdoors
Bell et al. 2008, Johnson et al. 2014,
Wright et al. 2015
Gaining public recognition for their
efforts
Thiel et al. 2014
Social
Social interactions Bell et al. 2008
Collectivism Rotman et al. 2012
Environmental monitoring projects

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Biodiversity
monitoring
(n=101)*
BM / PC
(n=127)*
Practical
conservation
(n=160)*
Mean
motivational
factor
rating
Values
Understanding*
Recreation*
Protective
Social*
Career
Citizen scientists’ motivations
* p<0.05; ±1SE (Kragh et al. Under revision for Environment and Behavior)

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Biodiversity
monitoring
(n=21)*
BM / PC
(n=28)*
Practical
conservation
(n=26)*
Mean
motivational
factor
rating
Values
Recreation*
Social
Protective
Career
Volunteer managers’ perception of volunteers’ motivations
* p<0.05; ±1SE (Kragh et al. Under revision for Environment and Behavior)

Why understand motivation?
➢ Understand the context and motivations of your
voluteers
–> better engagement and communication
-> better retention of volunteers
➢ Seek collaborations with social scientists /
communicators / others, if needed
➢ Understand the context and motivations of your
stakeholders & include knowledge when determining
project goals
–> higher chance of success

Project goals
3) What is citizen science today? - Outcomes
➢ Achieving temporal and geographical coverage
➢ Accessing resources
➢ Producing scientific outputs
➢ Increase inclusiveness
➢ Increase scientific literacy
➢ Increase awareness of scientific issues
➢ Creating enjoyable, engaging and meaningful
experiences

Citizen science – interdisciplinarity needed
Other scientists:
➢ Motivation
➢ Communication
➢ Well-being
➢ Participatory
approaches
Natural scientists:
➢ Conservation
➢ Monitoring
➢ DataResearch,
volunteer &
conservation
organisations

Citizen science – Impact
Participatory vs. scientist-led monitoring projects
Danielsen et al. 2010

Synopsis
4) Challenges and opportunities
2) What are the origins of citizen science?
4) What are some challenges and opportunities for
citizen science?

Some challenges
➢ Acceptance as legitimate methodology and practice
➢ Sustainable funding
➢ Sustainable coordination efforts during project
➢ Integration in teaching curriculum
➢ Integration into policy
➢ Wide range of practices, epistomologies and
ontologies
➢ Multiple objectives and goals for different
stakeholders
➢ Cultural, political and contextual differences for
different stakeholders
➢ Sustaining supporting networking organisations / the
Citizen Science Community of Practice

Community of practice
3) What is citizen science today? - Opportunities
➢ Citizen Science Global Partnership
➢Regional associations
➢ European Citizen Science Association (2013)
➢ Citizen Science Association (2012/2014)
➢ Australian Citizen Science Association (2014)
➢ African Citizen Science Association (2017)
➢ Asian Citizen Science Association (2018)
➢ National networks, e.g. 14 in Europe
alone, including Citizen Science Netværket
➢ Local networks

Some opportunities
➢ Through Communities of Practice:
➢ Sharing best practices
➢ Networking, lobbying, coordinating efforts
➢ Strengthen legitimacy as a scientific methodology and practice
➢ Making citizen science relevant in new contexts
➢ E.g. for monitoring SDGs
➢ Increasing the public’s science capital
➢ Empowering local communities and individuals to act
➢ Increasing democratisation of science
➢ Enhancing science through new knowledge
collaborations
➢ Using citizen science only where appropriate

Summary
➢ CS has a long history through different contexts
➢ Two origins of term – contributions and democratisation
➢ Now the ideas are coalescing
➢ CS is a methodology used across scientific disciplines in
many different ways
➢ 3 main types: Contributory, Collaborative, Co-created
➢ Understanding motivation is important for success
➢ Interdisciplinarity is integral to citizen science
➢ There are many challenges still, but also lots of
opportunities for citizen science!

Thanks to all the citizen scientists,
volunteer managers, scientists and organisations
Acknowledgments
- and many other organisations!
Thank you for listening ☺

Gitte Kragh: Citizen science: Overview, origins and opportunities through a motivational lens

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