Citizen Science

Citizen science provides an opportunity for naturalists, both novice and experienced, to meaningfully contribute to science and the conservation of biodiversity. This is what it’s all about. As naturalists, we love to watch wildlife, but if we want wild species to remain viable we need to actively contribute to their conservation. Participating in citizen science is a great way to accomplish this.

The new smartphone apps that citizen science projects now use to record observations also help naturalists directly. At the most basic level, they provide an efficient way of making and storing observations, largely replacing the handwritten checklists of the past. The quality of observations has also increased, through the inclusion of photographs, sound recordings, automatic time stamps, and GPS locations.

Some apps are also beginning to assist with species identification in the field, using image and sound recognition algorithms derived from citizen science databases (e.g., Seek and Merlin). These identification tools are still at an early stage of development, but even now they are a great help to novice naturalists.

The citizen science databases are also useful reference sources for naturalists. The larger platforms provide excellent resources for learning about species, and their map products are valuable for trip planning.

Citizen science is the practice of engaging the public in scientific projects that produce reliable information usable by scientists, decision-makers, and the public. In the field of conservation, most citizen science projects focus on broad-scale species monitoring. These projects provide information on species abundance, species distribution, migratory patterns, and the timing of natural processes such as flowering. Some projects focus on monitoring aquatic and terrestrial habitat quality. In addition, researchers and resource managers sometimes recruit volunteers to help collect data for specific research studies.

The core strength of citizen science is the large number of observers it engages. This complements the main weakness of conventional science, which is limited capacity. Scientists are very good at collecting high-quality data, but there just aren’t that many of them. Placing literally millions of additional observers in the field makes a tremendous difference in what can be achieved.

Through citizen science, we can monitor across vast spatial scales and over extended time frames. We can also track rare species and species that are generally overlooked through conventional monitoring programs. Moreover, through the new phone apps, which provide photographs, sound recordings, GPS locations, and time stamps, the value of citizen observations for scientific applications has been greatly enhanced.

To learn more about the science behind citizen science, have a look at this video presentation by our Executive Director, Dr. Richard Schneider.

With the rising profile of citizen science in recent years, the number of projects has greatly increased. This can present a challenge for budding citizen scientists. How do you choose which project to participate in? Obviously, there has to be a good fit with your interests. Beyond that, consideration should be given to the value of the project to science and conservation.

Some citizen science projects are highly structured and are designed to collect data for a specific purpose. Typically, the organization or individual that initiates the project also leads the analysis of the data and the application of the findings. Structured projects are characterized by standardized methods for making observations.

Well-designed structured projects tend to score highly in terms of their contribution to science. The Breeding Bird Survey provides a good example. Each spring, volunteers count birds along a series of fixed survey routes using a standardized observation protocol. The Canadian Wildlife Service, which oversees the program in Canada, analyzes the data and generates regular reports on the state of birds in Canada, which wildlife managers rely on. No better dataset exists for tracking changes in bird abundance over time.

There are also citizen science projects that are relatively unstructured. Generally, the intent is to build a database of observations without explicitly defining what the data will be used for. Projects may impose some requirements, such as requiring a photograph or limiting which species are to be included. But participants are otherwise free to make observations whenever and wherever they please.

Some of the larger unstructured projects, such as iNaturalist and eBird, contribute meaningfully to science despite the opportunistic nature of the observations. In this case, size is a key factor — both projects are global in scope and each has millions of participants. Never in the history of science has so much information been collected about so many species. The large number of observations permits meaningful insights to be made, despite variability among observers.

Though the iNaturalist database is not well suited for monitoring trends, it excels at describing species distributions, especially of uncommon species and invasive species, which are difficult to monitor using conventional methods. In the case of eBird, the checklist approach permits the estimation of both distribution and abundance. Furthermore, because observations are submitted all year long, the data are useful for studying migratory patterns. Given their large size, both projects have attracted the attention of researchers and wildlife managers, who increasingly look to these databases to inform their work.

Despite the inherent benefits of large projects, the value of small, local projects should not be discounted. A small project may have very high conservation value if it is focused on gathering data for a specific local application. In other words, purpose and application are overriding factors.

Beyond these general concepts, there are six specific criteria worth considering when choosing projects to participate in:

1. Accessibility. Projects should facilitate the broad, public sharing of information (at no charge). You don’t want the fruits of your labour mouldering in an obscure database that few people know about.
2. Data products. Further to point 1, projects that analyze the incoming data and provide products such as distribution maps and summary reports are preferable to projects that just store the data. Note that most data downloads are actually from members of the public who use the information for educational purposes and for informing local conservation efforts.
3. Application. In conservation, the fundamental role of science is to support management decisions and guide conservation actions. Therefore, projects that have the attention of researchers and resource managers are preferred over those that do not. The more direct the connection between observations and their management application, the better.
4. Spatial and temporal scope. Species do not respect administrative boundaries. Therefore, all else being equal, a national or global project is preferable to one that is local in scope. Similarly, projects that collect observations all year long are preferred over projects that provide only a snapshot at a particular time of year.
5. Data quality. Projects that have standardized protocols for making observations generate higher-quality data than projects that do not. So do projects that check the validity of species identifications submitted by observers. High-quality data facilitates the ability of researchers to draw meaningful insights from the observations.
6. Data security. It is an unfortunate reality that citizen science initiatives sometimes shut down after a period of time, typically because of a lack of funding, a change in an organization’s priorities, or the loss of key people. Some projects have also lost data (mainly in the era before cloud-based storage). Therefore, consideration should be given to the long-term viability of the project and its ability to store data reliably.

Besides selecting projects with high conservation value, there are several other things you can do to maximize the value of your citizen science efforts. To begin, you can work on improving the quality of your observations. For example, if you are using eBird, make an effort to improve your bird identification skills and be sure to submit complete checklists rather than just casual observations. Incomplete checklists are generally excluded from the statistical analysis of eBird data. If you are submitting photos to iNaturalist, make sure your pictures are of good quality and capture the elements that are needed for species identification (e.g., both leaves and flowers). Remember, individual observations can include multiple photographs from different angles.

It’s also useful to travel off the beaten path when making observations. Citizen science contributions tend to cluster around urban centres, leaving data gaps in more remote areas. Your observations will be more valuable if they serve to fill these spatial gaps. Similarly, when using iNaturalist it is helpful to emphasize uncommon and invasive species, since they are most in need of monitoring.

Lastly, try to move up the citizen science “ladder” as you become more experienced. For example, once your bird identification skills have improved using eBird, you might consider taking on a Breeding Bird Survey route. There is always a need for new survey volunteers, and the contribution to bird conservation is very high with this program. You can also look for opportunities to become a “citizen steward” by supporting the conservation of a favourite natural area, or advocating for nature by writing or phoning decision-makers about key conservation issues.

Our Getting Started with eBird page provides an overview of this remarkable initiative along with tutorials to get you going.

iNaturalist is the world’s largest citizen science platform devoted to general biodiversity. There are now more than 2 million iNaturalist users who have collectively contributed close to 100 million observations. Behind the scenes, a community of volunteer naturalists works to help identify the species submitted to the database.

All of the information gathered is made available to the public at no charge through the iNaturalist website, which can be searched by species, location, date, or by specific project. This website is a great place to learn about species or places you are interested in. Because of the massive size of the iNaturalist database, it has also attracted the attention of researchers and wildlife managers, ensuring that the data contribute to conservation.

An iNaturalist observation consists of a photograph or a sound recording of an individual plant or animal. These observations can be made in the field using the iNaturalist smartphone app (no data connection is required). The app automatically adds a time stamp and GPS location, which greatly enhances the value of the observations to researchers. Observations can also be added or edited on a computer at home.

Many organizations, including Nature Alberta, use iNaturalist for local citizen science projects. In such cases, an organization sends an invitation to volunteer naturalists to collect data for a specific purpose. For example, this could involve surveying the biodiversity in a specific area or mapping the distribution of a given species. Several of the citizen science projects listed below are iNaturalist projects of this type.

The iNaturalist mobile app is easy to use. Get started by viewing this iNaturalist Tutorial

For help with navigating the iNaturalist website, have a look at this tutorial.

If you have questions about iNaturalist, try the iNaturalist FAQ