Citizen Science
Photo credit Peter Rees & a foraging matuku moana ~ grey heron
Today for an hour I quietly counted birds I saw and heard on my land. I was acting as a citizen scientist for the ‘NZ Garden Bird Survey’.
I’ve introduced the concept ‘citizen science’ in a subjective, experiential way as individual observation and experience is at the heart of ‘citizen science’. Sometimes described as ‘public participation’ or ‘participatory monitoring’ citizen science is a volunteer based science. Even if the volunteer has a form to fill in, some guidelines of what and when to observe/monitor, the only tools the volunteer has are their senses and possibly binoculars or a smart phone/camera.
Citizen science is an inclusive endeavour across ages, gender and location in any particular country. Both individuals and groups e.g. family or whanau can participate. In recent years the methodology and reach of citizen science has been massively improved by the use of the internet and the advent of smart phones.
In Aotearoa the most well-known on-going citizen science annual projects are ‘The Great Kereru Count’ and the ‘NZ Garden Bird Survey’. In this country it has been a valuable tool used by organisations and scientists to try to track invasive species such as myrtle rust, red vented bulbuls and rainbow skinks.
Citizen science serves the data collection goals of both scientists and governmental agencies and leads to a greater understanding of and connection to the natural environment or in some cases urban environment. It, also, raises a society’s understanding and appreciation of science. Recognition of the important role of citizen science led to the recent publication of a field guide for citizen science (‘The Field Guide to Citizen Science” Timber Press 2020).
Although some concerns have been raised about the quality of data collected via citizen science meta-analyses of such data has largely shown that it ranges from ‘good’ to ‘high quality’. Even if there is some quality issues it is a cost-effective way of adding to knowledge about the world.
Citizen science has links to many other knowledge troves e.g. cultural knowledge such as whakapapa and matauranga maori, passed down through generations. Stories and myths from a pe-science world have provided clues to the world its processes and inhabitants which sometimes ends up being incorporated into what we call ‘western science’ e.g. the antibiotic properties of herbs and native plants. Such knowledge turns out to be ‘wisdom’ we can rely on.
By Sue Fitchett ~ 2021