Cit izen Scient ists A Synergist ic Relat ionship for Museums and the Community
Ally Coconis, Amanda McGarry, Lexi Kaili
What is cit izen science? And how is it beneficial?What?
● Involvement of the public in scient ific research
How does it help?
● Create useful data for researchers or data managers.● Crowdsourcing data collect ion, transcript ion, and/or management● Authentic learning experiences with read world phenomena● Open scient ific pract ices to the community● Sense of place and ownership of ideas
Mutually beneficial work!!!
History of Cit izen Science
The concept has been around for a long t ime…
● Audubon Christmas Bird Count - since 1900
● Cooperat ive Observer Program/National Weather Service - since 1891
● Water Quality monitoring - past 50 years
https:/ /vimeo.com/71432056
● In the 90’s there was a handful of projects, now there are countless...
Cit izen Science Today
Many topics:
● Data Collect ion - based:○ Nature/biology, climate, archeological, etc.
● Data Transcription - based:○ Nature, climate, genome, history, art,
literature, medicine, space, census, etc.
B ased all over the world! Projects for everyone!
M any Platforms to participate:
● Zooniverse● SciStarter● DigiV ol● Notes from Nature● iNaturalist● eM ammal, eB ird● And M ANY more!
M any channels to start a project:
● Contribute to a project that already exists
● Use a model and platform that is already built
● Set up an entirely new project
A variety of projects...Space archeology (GlobalXplorer):
https:/ /www.npr.org/sect ions/thetwo-way/2017/01/31/512661370/space-archaeologist-wants-cit izen-scient ists-to-ident ify-archaeological-loot ing
Cyclone history (Cyclone Center):
https:/ /www.cyclonecenter.org/#/about
Danish National Archives - history projects:
https:/ /cs.sa.dk/
Zooniverse - art projects:
https:/ /www.zooniverse.org/projects?discipline=arts&page=1&status=live
NHMU Cit izen Science Projects
● Vertebrate Zoology Transcript ion Project - Amanda○ Transcript ion-based - transcript ion of field notebooks from past ~100 years.○ Addresses collect ion-based need for crowd-sourcing.
● Salt Lake City Neighborhood Naturalist Project - Lexi○ Data collect ion and education-based - collect biodiversity data from parks around SLC in partnership with
SLC Parks and Public Lands. Learn about the life in the parks in your neighborhoods.○ Addresses the need for increased data, data management, and for reaching out to underserved audiences.
Vertebrate Zoology Field Note Digit izat ion and Transcript ion ProjectBackground - Why Digit ize?
How to start -- Challenges and Successes
Transcript ion
Why Digit ize?In 2016, 83,536 vertebrate zoology specimen records were migrated into Arctos database
Collaborat ive Collect ion Management Solut ion
Why Digit ize?
• Emergency plan: save the field notebooks!
• Critical contextual information for
specimens in the V Z collections
• Some of these notebooks are over 80 years
old (earliest is dated 1931)
• None have ever been copied or scanned &
are deteriorating with age, so digitizing and
preserving is critical
• After scanning, original materials archived
with R egistrar’s office
How We Started● Volunteers in the museum helped from
day one.
● Our materials vary in scope, size, and
number of pages
● ~ 175 notebooks from historic collectors
and ~ 125 notebooks from modern
collectors
● ~14-20 months to complete scanning
● Funded by a grant, purchased camera
equipment, photo software and computer
for our imaging
● Similar imaging projects could be done in
the same manner with less equipment
Process ● Image one page at a t ime, using
a 35mm digital camera
● Save images as TIFF files,
associate metadata for
searching in databases
● Streamlining and uniforming
the file saving process
● Logging of progress
● Workflow with images and
step by step instruct ions
Chal lenges
● Technology
● Trouble shoot ing
● Bott lenecks
○ IT
○ Space/Storage
● Volunteer Recruitment
Volunteers
Volunteers are a crucial part of this project
Pros: Fast Imaging, more eyes for problems, insight
Cons: File organizing, slower issue resolut ion
7 Imaging Volunteers● 474 hours of work● Over 11,000 images
Transcript ion & Cit izen ScienceNot only will this project produce digital copies of our collect ion notebooks, t ranscript ion will allow for…
● Linking the notes to specimen record
● Fill in missing at tribute data in database record
● Search by keywords and catalog numbers
The scale of t ranscript ion (10-20k pages) could only be done with cit izen science!
Transcript ion & Cit izen ScienceDigiVol - crowdsourcing plat form designed by Australian Museum in collaborat ion with the At las of Living Australia
Used by many inst itut ions around the world as a way of combining the efforts of many volunteers to digit ize data.
Smaller organizat ion - series of emails with one coordinator there
Very helpful with sett ing up our expedit ions and helping create custom templates
Museum object labels, field notebooks and diaries, recording
sheets, registers or photographs.
Transcript ion and validat ion
Users follow tutorials to get started on an expedit ion
Transcript ion & Cit izen ScienceOur Stats:
● 11 completed expedit ions, 1 current ly underway. Two new expedit ions loaded every week
● 27 volunteers from around the world have already transcribed over 500 pages since end of May
DIGIVOL has over 3000 users, over 1600 expedit ions
One of many plat forms for cit izen science!
On this plat form you can contribute to an exist ing project, model a new one, or create something totally new
Contact [email protected] to start a project!
SLC Neighborhood Natural ists:An Int roduct ion to Cit izen Science using iNatural ist
● What is SLCNN?○ A program to engage the community through
bioblitz events
● What is a bioblitz?○ An event to record biodiversity in a specific
location
● Goals / What for ? ○ Learn through exploration○ Hands-on participation in data collection ○ Engaging in the scientific process
SLCNN History How?● Adapted pre-existing model from
iNaturalist● Developed with diversity and
inclusion in mind
Where?● Three recently restored locations:
○ Miller Park Bird Refuge, Jordan River Peace Labyrinth, Fife Wetland Preserve
Impact?● Visit each location 2x a year● Track changes in biodiversity over
time ● Third year
NHMU’s Commitment to Diversity
● Diversity & Inclusion Committee○ Citizen Science strategic plan for the next
five years
● Reach out to Spanish-speaking communities
● Develop partnerships in communities
● Create lasting relationships through shared resources ○ How do our goals align?
iNatural ist as a Tool● A free mobile app● Easy to use ● Share photos worldwide ● Helps you explore nature wherever you are!
● Create projects based on location or events● Search database with map feature
○ Park, neighborhood, city, region, state, country, species, taxa, etc.
● Lots of educator resources on website
www.inaturalist.orgApp works with IOS and Android
● Download app and create account● Take photos of wild plants and
animals ● Upload photo(s)
○ Location, time, date automatically recorded
● Identify observations
How to contribute to iNaturalist?
● Use new artificial intelligence feature
● Take clear photos● Computer vision can tell
you what species you observed○ 70% accuracy
Learn with photo recognition!
Why contribute to iNaturalist?
● Learn about living organisms● Contribute to scientific
databases ● Connect with scientists,
researchers, experts, and enthusiasts around the world
● All ages welcome; No experience necessary
● Target neighborhoods around event location
● Translate materials for Spanish-speaking individuals○ Naturalista
● Bring experts with us to engage the public
● Provide tools for participants ○ Bug nets, plastic vials, tablets
BIOBLITZ PROCESS
● Observations require IDENTIFICATION to become research-grade.
● iNaturalist community contributes expertise
● Share and discuss through social network
NHMU Digital Citizen Science volunteers
● Five dedicated individuals have invested in the program○ Each have brought and developed
expertise■ Birds, plants, insects...
After the event...
SLCNN Partnerships
● Citizen Science projects NEED an “end user”○ Who is going to use the data collected? ○ City uses data to guide management and
track biodiversity over time
Hartland Community 4 Youth & Families fosters “cultural and ethnic diversity in an inclusive, supportive, and
safe space”
“UNP brings together University and west side resources in reciprocal learning, action and benefit...”
Cit izen Science at NHMU going forward...3 projects so far…
● Vertebrate Zoology Transcript ion Project● SLCNN● Utah Firefly Project
Goals:
● Crowd-sourcing data collect ion and transcript ion● Reaching new communit ies● Forming new partnerships● Creating more accessible resources both internally and externally● Finding ways that CS can help us reach more internal goals for our inst itut ion
Crowd-sourcing data col lect ion and t ranscript ion● Crowd-sourcing helps with lack of money
available to hire more personnel to collect and manage data
● Although there can be concerns of the accuracy with which cit izen scient ists are collect ing or inputing data, these processes can be vetted by the platforms proposed and your individual protocols.
● Can be a t ime investment upfront but can save t ime and money into the future
Reaching new communit ies
Geographical
● Statewide reach
Audience
● Urban and rural● Physical and remote access● Working with people in which English is a second language● Working with people who have a disability
Partnership opportunit ies
● Partnering with organizat ions that need the data or that could use your data/ information.
● Partnering with organizat ions that have similar goals
● Partnering with organizat ions that could benefit from your resources
Creat ing more accessible resourcesExternally
● Online type projects● Teacher and community educator resources● Translated resources● Training the Trainers project● Sharing resources with other inst itut ions
Internally
● Creating a database that has metadata attached ● Utah Cit izen Science Pract it ioners - community of pract ice
○ Story map○ Shared natural resources database○ Tools for communication and collaborat ion○ Professional development opportunit ies○ Connecting CS to K-12 and college students/teachers
Consider...
What are your goals, and how may cit izen science help you reach them?
If you would like to part icipate in our annual pract it ioners meeting, we are proposing a date this year around the last week in November at NHMU. Please email me, [email protected], to get more information!
And/or join our FB group: Utah Cit izen Science
QUESTIONS????
Resources:
● iNaturalist○ Educator resources
■ Seek○ iNat network
● DigiVol● Zooniverse● Scistarter● GlobalXplorer● Cit izen Science Associat ion -
http:/ /www.cit izenscience.org/
● Utah CS pract it ioners FB group: “Utah Cit izen Science”
● National Phenology Network ○ Cit izen Science tab