Using citizen science to bridge taxonomic discovery with education and outreach
| Autor: | Brian Carstensen, Juan Larraín, Tatyana Livshultz, Chris Snyder, Tomomi Suwa, Justyna Drag, Thomas Campbell, Taylor J. Walker, Peter J. de Lange, Yarency Rodriguez, Laura Trouille, Matt Von Konrat, Kalman Strauss, Charlie Delavoi, Taylor Peterson, Matthew Greif, Ben Carter, Christina Yang, Mike Bryson, Steve Cohen, Selma Aburahmeh, Joann Lacey Martinec, Eric Ribbens, Caitlin Vaughn, Eve Gaus, Ayesha Qazi, Blanka Aguero, A. M. Smith |
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| Rok vydání: | 2018 |
| Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
Application Article business.product_category For the Special Issue: Green Digitization: Online Botanical Collections Data Answering Real‐World Questions college Plant Science Interactive kiosk Biology 010603 evolutionary biology 01 natural sciences university citizen science 0103 physical sciences Citizen science Application Articles 010303 astronomy & astrophysics Curriculum Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics Digitization education Data collection Invited Special Article business.industry 4. Education Public relations liverworts Outreach digitization Public participation Stewardship business K–12 |
| Zdroj: | Applications in Plant Sciences |
| ISSN: | 2168-0450 |
| DOI: | 10.1002/aps3.1023 |
| Popis: | Premise of the Study Biological collections are uniquely poised to inform the stewardship of life on Earth in a time of cataclysmic biodiversity loss. Efforts to fully leverage collections are impeded by a lack of trained taxonomists and a lack of interest and engagement by the public. We provide a model of a crowd-sourced data collection project that produces quality taxonomic data sets and empowers citizen scientists through real contributions to science. Entitled MicroPlants, the project is a collaboration between taxonomists, citizen science experts, and teachers and students from universities and K–12. Methods We developed an online tool that allows citizen scientists to measure photographs of specimens of a hyper-diverse group of liverworts from a biodiversity hotspot. Results Using the MicroPlants online tool, citizen scientists are generating high-quality data, with preliminary analysis indicating non-expert data can be comparable to expert data. Discussion More than 11,000 users from both the website and kiosk versions have contributed to the data set, which is demonstrably aiding taxonomists working toward establishing conservation priorities within this group. MicroPlants provides opportunities for public participation in authentic science research. The project's educational component helps move youth toward engaging in scientific thinking and has been adopted by several universities into curriculum for both biology and non-biology majors. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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