Category: AAPS News

Personal contact means doing more than talking with community members simply to get their input on project activities. Whether speaking directly with project participants or community leaders, the most productive conversations are genuinely equitable, personally meaningful, and sustained over time. It also involves having someone knowledgeable and passionate about the project available to explain it, to express their passion in person, and to figure out how to reach common goals through the project. Celebrate Urban Birds (CUBS) grew out of efforts by the Lab of Ornithology to create a citizen science project that would be of interest to and relevant…

Partnerships built on a sharing of knowledge, goals, and resources between participants, their families, PPSR practitioners, community leaders, and organizations that serve underrepresented groups have been successful at bridging the gap between practitioners and underrepresented groups. Effective local leaders and organizations are ideally situated to be good interpreters and liaisons who can help develop new PPSR projects or adapt existing ones so that they are relevant to and accessible by the communities they serve. Developing an understanding of the needs and goals of local leaders and organizations and providing them with some of the resources to accomplish their missions are…

Scientists and science centers generally begin PPSR projects with goals that motivate their own participation, such as facilitating advances in science, providing STEM education to local communities, or addressing environmental concerns. For many communities, the opportunity to make a contribution to science or to help the environment is not, by itself, enough to make the PPSR project a community priority. The goals and aspirations that motivate communities to act in other realms are as diverse as the communities involved. One reason to invest time in building relationships between PPSR practitioners and community members is to understand the goals of each…

Engaging underrepresented communities through Public Participation in Scientific Research (PPSR) involves finding common ground and bringing together the strengths of the projects with the strengths of the communities. PPSR, science more broadly, and the environmental movement can all be enhanced by the diversity of geographically, culturally, and historically grounded perspectives, interests, priorities, experiences, practices, knowledge, and skills that underrepresented communities can bring to bear on today’s most pressing issues. To truly succeed, PPSR must find ways not only to respect but to tap into and provide additional outlets for the expression of these capacities. Examples of strategies that have been…

The California Academy of Sciences is thinking about citizen science at the highest institutional level. With a long history of supporting public participation in scientific research and running several citizen science projects, the Academy has turned its focus to thinking carefully about how to integrate those activities deeply into the fabric of its work to document biodiversity in the state of California. In doing so, the Academy has pulled together a document that offers insights for anyone considering how to make the best use of citizen science to advance both scientific literacy and scientific research. (Proceedings available for download) In…

"How do we engage more diverse audiences?" If you and your program are asking this question, you are not alone. This question was heard again and again from educators and administrators attending a series of 2012 workshops on citizen science at science centers. The same question was explored by citizen science project leaders at a 2012 workshop facilitated by the Center for Diversity and the Environment. With support from the Association of Science-Technology Centers, a task force was convened to address this question and provide insights for the field. A team of PPSR practitioners and researchers, science center administrators, and…

Promising Practices for Increasing Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Citizen Science

Celebrate citizen science! Over the 2012-2013 winter break, the Museum of Discovery and Science shared CoCoRaHS, Project BudBurst, Project NestWatch, Galaxy Zoo, and other project activities in a family-focused Citizen Science Weekend. Take a look at what went on to gain inspiration for your own Citizen Science Celebration! In 2016, The Citizen Science Association will support a US nationwide Citizen Science Day. Learn more and take part!  

How can pre-school aged children engage with citizen science? This is what Martin Weiss and Michaela Labriole wondered when planning the citizen science component of the Communicating Climate Change (C3) project at the New York Hall of Science (NYSCI). As a very hands-on science center, NYSCI attracts many families with young children. A hands-on activity like citizen science held promise for sharing the message of climate change with this audience, but would pre-schoolers be excited about making scientific observations? And if so, who would want their data? Enter BudBurst Buddies. Presented like a children's book, this website (a youthful portal for Project BudBurst)…