Since 2010, there has been a significant rise in the number of peer reviewed publications that mention citizen science. But the impact of citizen science reaches far beyond the production of data. It is a powerful form of experiential learning for everyone, children and adults alike. It also supports an enhanced scientific literacy among different public community members.
A new citizen science project, Earth Challenge 2020 – led by Earth Day Network, the Wilson Center and the U.S. State Department – advances the field. While some citizen science data is open source, it is not easily accessible to everyone in one place. One solution is creating the Citizen Science Cloud, a one-stop shop for citizen science data collected from a wide range of projects.
The Earth Challenge mobile app (available in the Apple and Google Play stores) directly links science to action, an opportunity to use technology and data to drive change that is unique in the citizen science world. Once a user contributes data, they can take country-specific civic engagement actions.
To address bee declines, for example, participants can petition their governments to ban certain pesticides, or create habitats for bees and other pollinators. Guiding citizen scientists down the pathway of civic action builds a deeper relationship between critically important data and its natural outgrowth, strong science-based policy.
Kathleen Rogers is president of Earth Day Network. Anne Bowser, Ph.D., is the director of Innovation at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
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