Data Campaigns for Sustaining Engagement in Long-Term Citizen Science

Although there are many potential strategies to recruit and sustain public participation in monitoring programs, information on the relative success of different approaches is sparse. We explored the impact of three approaches... [ view full abstract ]

Although there are many potential strategies to recruit and sustain public participation in monitoring programs, information on the relative success of different approaches is sparse. We explored the impact of three approaches in terms of increasing participant engagement in NestWatch, a continent-wide program that enlists the public to monitor and record reproduction in birds. Recruitment approaches included 1) manipulating web site content to direct participant effort, 2) specific, hypothesis-driven calls-to-action, and 3) fun-based campaigns designed to introduce potential participants to the project. Website manipulations included featuring 18 under-reported species in an ongoing “Focal Species” campaign to encourage monitoring of these species. Specific calls-to-action featured three campaigns with clear scientific underpinnings. The fun-based campaign featured an online tool for sharing and displaying photos of nesting birds. Website changes resulted in a 22% relative increase in submissions of the nests of the 18 new focal species. Responses to specific calls-to-action were mixed, with one initiative leading to a twofold increase in data submissions while another resulted in only a marginal increase. The fun-based campaign succeeded in reaching new audiences, with 32% of newly-engaged users also submitting biological data. We show that participants can be recruited to find and monitor additional nests when requested to do so, and are most responsive to specific, hypothesis-driven requests.