Erinma Ochu @erinmaochu & Natalie Ireland @voiceofmosi University of Manchester & MOSI The promise of #citizenscience? Have fun, learn & save the world together Turing’s Sunflowers Everyday Growing #Hooked
May 10, 2015
Erinma Ochu @erinmaochu & Natalie Ireland @voiceofmosiUniversity of Manchester & MOSI
The promise of #citizenscience? Have fun, learn & save the world together
Turing’s Sunflowers Everyday Growing #Hooked
Definitions/ ApproachesCitizen ScienceUsually unpaid individuals & interest groups contributing toscientific experiments
Co-design/ co-created (or extreme citizen science)Public groups participate in setting research question(s), methods and/or analysis to address social need
Crowdsourced scienceComplex problem, wisdom & power of crowd to create, analyse,collect big datasets – mainly research benefits
DIYBIO Individuals often part of a network of hobbyists, hackers with an opensource ethos to labs, equipment, methods – DIY culture
Variations:Citizen Science with co-design & crowdsourcing elements; Art-science ‘experiences’ – explore scientific concepts & open up the practice of science to culture
@citizenbrains www.thegreatbrainexperiment.com
@eye_wire http://eyewire.org
Crowdsourcing neuroscience
Who else is doing it?
Available online: www.ukeof.org.uk
“If we work together in the garden, maybe we can work together in crisis…. Dig In!”
Wendy Brawer
“If we work together in the garden, maybe we can work together in crisis…. Dig In!”
Wendy Brawer
Challenges & Opportunities
• Ethics• Data quality assurance• Additional resource - funding• Recognition of public contributions• Measuring impact – did we make a difference
to people’s lives?• Open science: democratising science & access
to science, data & journals
http://www.everyoneandeverything.wordpress.com
Research Method with social valueCitizen Science• As an instrument for social impact…. & social change• Collective intelligence
Benefits & Impact• Quality of Life• Improved decision making• Enhancing curriculum content & informal learning• Enhanced research advocacy
Resources• Centre for Social Justice, Durham Ethical Guidance:
http://www.dur.ac.uk/beacon/socialjustice/ethics_consultation/
• Literature & History of Citizen Science: http://edutechwiki.unige.ch/en/Citizen_science
• Citizen Cyberlab portal – tools & projects: http://edutechwiki.unige.ch/en/Portal:_citizen_science
• Guide to Citizen Science: http://www.ukeof.org.uk/documents/guide-to-citizen-science.pdf
• How to cite data: http://www.dcc.ac.uk/resources/how-guides
• Open Science project: http://www.openscience.org
• My slides: http://www.slideshare.net/erinmaochu
Opportunities• New Visions for Citizen Science – live streamhttp://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/new-visions-for-citizen-science
• Cybersummit Feb 2014http://citizencyberlab.eu/2013/11/summit2014/
• Guide to Citizen Science:http://www.manchestersciencefestival.com/citizenscience
• #Hooked: http://www.manchestersciencefestival.com/citizenscience/hooked
• #CitizenScience (twitter!)
ReferencesCohn, JP (2008) Citizen Science: Can Volunteers Do Real Research
BioScience 58: 192-197.
M. Jordan Raddick , Georgia Bracey , Pamela L. Gay, Chris J. Lintott, Phil Murray, Kevin Schawinski, Alexander S.
Szalay and Jan Vandenberg (2010 ) Galaxy Zoo: Exploring the Motivations of Citizen Science Volunteers AER 9,
010103; http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/AER2009036
Tweddle, J.C., Robinson, L.D., Pocock, M.J.O & Roy, H.E. (2012). Guide to
citizen science: developing, implementing and evaluating citizen science to
study biodiversity and the environment in the UK. Natural History Museum
and NERC Centre for Ecology & Hydrology for UK-EOF. www.ukeof.org.uk
Frietag, A, Pfeffer, M.J. (2013) Process, not product: Investigating
Recommendations for improving Citizen Science "Success". PLoS ONE 8(5):
e64079. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0064079
Prestoneck & Crowston (2011) Exploring collective intelligence games with design: a citizen science case:
http://crowston.syr.edu/node/430
Whittle JW, Ochu E, Ferrario MA, Southern J and McNally R (2012) 2012 Beyond research in the wild: citizen-led research as a model
for innovation in the digital economy: Proceeding Digital Futures 2012, Aberdeen
http://www.de2012.org/sites/default/files/digitalfutures2012papers/Papers/Session1BTalesofEngagement/
Whittle_etal_BeyondRitW.pdf
Thanks for listening