Download to read offline
![• If you do citizen science then decide:
• What does ‘success’ look like?
• Success is entirely context-specific
• Defining success helps you to evaluate
• Formative
• Ongoing
• Summative
• [story about schools projects with Conker Tree
Science]](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/201702oxfordintothenghttraining-170426112627/85/Michael-Pocock-Citizen-Science-Project-Design-34-320.jpg)
More Related Content
![Participatory [Citizen] Science](https://cdn.slidesharecdn.com/ss_thumbnails/haklay-ecsa2016-160519212623-thumbnail.jpg?width=640&height=640&fit=bounds)
Similar to Michael Pocock: Citizen Science Project Design
Michael Pocock: Citizen Science Project Design
- 1. Citizen science projectdesign Michael Pocock (Centre for Ecology & Hydrology) michael.pocock@ceh.ac.uk @mjopocock
- 2. What is ‘citizenscience’? ‘real’ science excellent engagement citizen science?
- 3. What is ‘citizenscience’? ‘real’ science excellent engagement excellent engagement ‘real’ science citizen science Has greater impact and value because of the science Made possible and better because of wide engagement citizen science?
- 4. Overview 1. My story 2.Anyone can organise citizen science 3. But maybe you shouldn’t do citizen science 4. Think like a participant 5. Ask the very best questions 6. Be excellent and have fun!
- 5. Public engagement withscience, with Darren Evans (University of Hull)
- 6. • Hypothesis-driven citizenscience • Observational and experimental • Engagement and science equally important • ‘Real’ science: greater spatial extent and fine resolution than would be possible otherwise With Darren Evans Funded by:
- 7. Horse-chestnut leaf-miner Cameraria ohridella •Discovered as new to science in 1970s • Spread rapidly through Europe since 1980s • Reached London in 2002 • Spreads at about 30km per year Is this the single species of moth that is familiar to more people than any other? 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
- 8. Horse-chestnut tree Aesculus hippocastanum •Seeds known as conkers • Widely planted in towns in Britain over past 200 years • Well recognised • Regarded as quintessentially British
- 10. Yes: damage doesincrease with length of time Cameraria has been present • It takes 4 years to reach maximum damage a novel result
- 11. Mission: pest controllers Levelsof ‘pest control’ are greatest where the moth has been longest
- 13. Mass participation &hypothesis-led With Darren Evans Funded by: The highlights • Engaged c. 18, 000 people • Reached several million people • Received 10, 000+ data points • Addressed hypotheses about an invasive insect • Discovered new biology about the insect • Real science and good engagement • Article in PLOS ONE (2014)
- 14. Biological recording www.brc.ac.uk/apps for listof current apps Early detection of invasives Cascading impacts of species loss Trends & indicators Pocock et al. (2015) Biological Journal of the Linnean Society Record Research Respond Available at www.brc.ac.uk
- 15. Recording lots oftaxa… Pocock et al. (2015) Biol. Journal Linnean Soc
- 16. …over a longtime… Pocock et al. (2015) Biol. Journal Linnean Soc 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 Taxa with atlases Taxa with repeat atlases
- 17. …by lots ofpeople Pocock et al. (2015) Biol. Journal Linnean Soc 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 Taxa with atlases Taxa with repeat atlases
- 18. Slide from: KarolisKazlauskis. Icons from Flaticons Several BRC apps were developed by: www.brc.ac.uk/apps
- 19. Large scale, longterm data contributes to ‘grand challenges’, e.g. biodiversity loss, food security, invasive species & climate change
- 20. contributes topolicy and management Large scale, long term data UK NGO’s State of Nature 2373 species trends from volunteer data Priority species indicator
- 23. 2. Anyone canrun citizen science • Discuss: in 2s/3s come up with as many different types of citizen science as possible
- 24. Citizen science isdiverse Mass participation Elaborate approach Simple approach Systematic sampling Entirely online Multivariate analysis of traits of 507 projects in ecology & environment
- 25. Citizen science isdiverse Mass participation Hypothesis-led Elaborate approach Simple approach Systematic sampling Entirely online
- 26. Citizen science isdiverse Long-term monitoring + Engagement, informal education etc. Ad hoc recording Mass participation Hypothesis testing
- 27. It is changingover time
- 28. • There isno single thing of ‘citizen science’! • It doesn’t always have to be huge
- 29. Short article ina naturalists journal About 12 people took part Run by Nik Charlton for his PhD – formed half a chapter Trialling pheromone traps for longhorn beetles About 12 keen naturalists took part Recruited via twitter Both provided greater spatial coverage than otherwise possible
- 30. 3. Maybe youshouldn’t do citizen science?
- 31. Citizen science • Amultitool or a toolbox?
- 32. By Michael Pocock, Dan Chapman, LucySheppard & Helen Roy Discuss in 2s/3s: what things do you need to think about if wondering whether to begin a citizen science project?
- 33. • Should youconsider a citizen science approach? Maybe not • The generation of citizen science data is different to professional science • Unstructured and uncontrolled • Data of unknown quality (= varying measurement error) Before you do citizen science Available to download. Search for “CEH citizen science”
- 34. • If youdo citizen science then decide: • What does ‘success’ look like? • Success is entirely context-specific • Defining success helps you to evaluate • Formative • Ongoing • Summative • [story about schools projects with Conker Tree Science]
- 36. 4. Think likea participant • Have you ever taken part in citizen science? • Try out different projects • You will always be contributing – plus you’ll be gaining insights! • Discuss in 2s/3s: Why did you participate in this project?
- 37. What is yourpitch? We need your help to record the abundance of leaf mines of the Gracillarid micro-moth Cameraria ohridella and the normalised abundance of its parasitoids
- 38. • Motivations canclash! Responsibility Concern Fun activity Personal interest Fear of a threat Duty What is the motivation? An excuse to get into the woods Generosity Sense of discovery
- 39. Motivations and triggers www.yellowhammers.nethttps://www.zooniverse.org/ Involvement primarily for the sake of science
- 40. What is avolunteer anyway? Opportunities for citizen science in East Africa, June 2016
- 41. Motivations may differfrom expectations! Deguines N, Julliard R, de Flores M, Fontaine C (2012) The Whereabouts of Flower Visitors: Contrasting Land-Use Preferences Revealed by a Country-Wide Survey Based on Citizen Science. PLoS ONE 7(9): e45822
- 42. Motivations • Different valuesoptimise recruitment v retention Blackmore et al. 2013. Common Cause for Nature: Finding values and frames in the conservation sector. Rotman et al. 2012. Dynamic changes in motivation in collaborative citizen-science projects. Proc. ACM 2012 Conf. on Computer Supported Cooperative Work: 217. Grove-White et al. 2007. Amateurs as experts: harnessing new networks for biodiversity’. Lancaster University.
- 43. What are thetriggers for involvement? Avian flu monitoring Pigeon behaviour
- 44.
- 45. Have realistic expectations 050100150200 Recordsperday Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct 20102011 2012 - National media call the shots! - Local radio & press is good - Difficult to involve schools… unless you visit them - 0.1% recruitment via mass media is reasonable - 10% uptake for each extra step of involvement
- 46. 4. Think likea participant • What is your story? • What are the motivations? • Will anyone intend to participate? • What are the triggers? • Will anyone actually participate? • Provide feedback • A thank you • Contextual information • A summary
- 47. 5. Ask thevery best questions • Be clear about your questions • They may change… Maybe they should change? • Keep your aims simple. Keep instructions simple. And then simplify them. And again. • Scientists often ask poor questions • Be clear about analysis • Know how you will analyse the data in advance of running the project • Examples of asking better questions
- 48. Using citizen sciencedata in ecology • Icons: The Noun Project (parkjisun, Luis Prado, Prosymbols, Icon Mafia, Creative Stall, Luke Anthony Firth) Citizen science dataset Outputs Analyst / Scientist Outcomes Reporting biases Accounting for biases
- 49. People are the‘data generating process’ • Icons: The Noun Project (parkjisun, Luis Prado, Prosymbols, Icon Mafia, Creative Stall, Luke Anthony Firth) Citizen science dataset Outputs Observers / Reporters Analyst / Scientist Outcomes Observation Reporting
- 50. Monitoring spread • “Tellus if you see it” Presence only data, With mis-identifications
- 51. Monitoring spread • “Tellus if you see it” • “Tell us whether you see it” Presence only data, With mis-identifications Presence-absence data?
- 52. Monitoring spread • “Tellus whether you see it” Presence-absence data?
- 53. • Discuss: • Doyou have examples of questions which could/have been improved?
- 54. • Error andbias • Data don’t need to be perfect, as long as… • Fit-for-purpose • Accuracy is known (or estimated) • How can accuracy be quantified? • Data entry portals, e.g. don’t enter grid refs, data format is consistent • Verifying, e.g. photos (a conservative & time- consuming approach) • Pilot data and test data • Testing through protocol design & re-design
- 55. 0 10 2030 40 50 01020304050 'True' counts Children'scounts 0 5 10 15 20 05101520 'True' counts Children'scounts 0 2 4 6 8 10 0246810 'True' counts Children'scounts • Children can count mines and moths accurately • Parasitoids are very small and rare, so harder to count accurately – but we modelled the mis-counting and took it into account Dotted lines = 1:1 Solid lines = line of best fit
- 56. Roy et al.(2016) PLoS ONE
- 58. Top tips? • Definesuccess, and evaluate • Be creative – think big or small, innovate - engage • Be scientifically rigorous (and think like a participant) • You will under-estimate the investment required • Learn from and share with others • Have fun!
- 59. Join JISCmail: BES-citizenscience Activitiesplanned for 2017 include: • Meeting on crowd-sourcing in ecology • Citizen science data hackathon • Bringing participants and professionals together • We need student reps! Citizen Science Group Guides available from CEH website and UKEOF website. (Search “CEH citizen science” and “UKEOF citizen science”)