Is Citizen Science a win-win situation?

Well, yes.

Citizen science is a relatively new concept and refers to the practice of public participation and collaboration in scientific research to increase scientific knowledge. It has several benefits for science and citizens, which makes it the win-win situation that it is. Let us start off with the benefits to science.

One of the main uses of Citizen Science is generation of data. Studies that need to gather data in large quantities often benefit from taking help of the general public. A great example for this is the Christmas Bird Count study sponsored by the National Audubon Society. Since 1900, the organization has sponsored a bird count that runs for about three weeks each year. An experienced birder leads a circle of volunteers as they collect information about local populations of birds. More than 2,000 such circles operate across the United States and Canada. These circles have generated six million individual records–an impressive number indeed. Citizens have also been involved in processing previously generated data. For instance, the Galaxy Zoo Project is an online Citizen Science project in which citizens helped sort through data on a million galaxies by describing them and classifying them in different categories. In the first year itself, 150,000 people participated in this project and classified more than fifty million galaxies.

Both these projects exemplify some important advantages of Citizen Science. Firstly, the amount of data generated and sorted is incredible. They say two heads are better than one, but thousands–that is a different league altogether. Moreover, the data could be gathered from a wide variety of places as well depending on the distribution of citizen scientists involved in the project. Secondly, researchers also save on valuable time. Had the scientists behind Galaxy Zoo Project have to sift through all the galaxies on their own… well let’s just say they are extremely grateful to the citizens involved in this project. Lastly, Citizen Science also cuts down on costs. Researchers save on the money they would have to spend on data-gathering researchers as most citizen scientists volunteer for these projects. So the power lies in numbers–more people, more data sets, less time, less money. This is a definite win for science.

Now we come to the benefits of the citizens. Simply put, Citizen Science projects bring science to the public. It encourages the general public to become interested in science and make an active contribution to it. Furthermore, it creates a community dedicated to science but not restricted to merely researchers and scientists. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology exemplifies this point. Since 1996, this lab has worked with more than 20,000 people every year. Their online tools such as the Avian Knowledge Network and eBird receive millions of observations every year from all around the world. This contributes to the larger birding community which taps into the millions of records generated by citizen scientists. Through the records, researchers can see how their own sightings fit into the continental picture and analyze the data to reveal striking changes in the movements, distributions, and numbers of birds through time.

Some Citizen Science projects also specifically encourage students to get involved in research. New York’s Bard College sets a broad example for this with its new “Citizen Science” requirement. All Bard freshmen take a three-week intensive introduction to the scientific method, regardless of their anticipated major. This provides important exposure to students and gives them a taste of what research truly is. They also learn a lot more about local issues, ecological or otherwise, affecting their community. Sounds like a win for citizens too.

Citizen Science seems too good to be true. There has to be a catch right? Maybe if there are so many people giving observations, some are bound to be wrong. Additionally, these people aren’t even trained scientists; they may not have the skill sets necessary to make proper observations. First to address the inaccuracy in observations claim: Yes it is possible that the some observations are inaccurate; however, the large number of people giving in the data counters that. As there are more people, the subjectivity is reduced. The chances of it being subjective would have been greater had one person been doing all the observations. And as for the skill set claim, the observations or the task required of the people often do not require training. And when they do, researchers often provide basic training to the citizen scientists.

My win-win situation sermon doesn’t end here. Perhaps, the greatest measure of Citizen Science’s potential and importance is the substantial contribution it makes to science and research. The Birds in Forested Landscapes Citizen Science project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology yielded valuable insights into habitat fragmentation, occupancy by birds and local extinction rates. Results were published in scientific journals including the Journal of Animal Ecology, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and Ecology and Society. The results were also compiled into guidelines for land managers interested in conservation of tanagers, forest thrushes, and Golden-winged Warblers. This project also included a study on the effects of mercury and acid rain on birds. The results from that are being used to develop a model of mercury contamination in New York forests and identifying regions and birds at high risk. Citizen Science did some pretty good work out there.

This is just one example, but there are so many more. So many more studies that have been benefited and can be benefited by citizen scientists; so many more people that have been and can be involved with science; and so many more ways Citizen Science has been and can be the win-win situation that it is.