Synergistic Citizen Science: Bringing It All Together

We have yet to take advantage of the synergies of citizen science. With a synergistic approach, we could take advantage of the vast amount of data being collected every day, a lot of it through community-based, site-specific,... [ view full abstract ]

We have yet to take advantage of the synergies of citizen science. With a synergistic approach, we could take advantage of the vast amount of data being collected every day, a lot of it through community-based, site-specific, and long-term monitoring programs. These data sets are not always available to the scientific community, although their potential to address scientific need is great. Our collective ignorance of localized efforts limits our ability to effectively monitor, and therefore understand and respond to ecosystem change. This talk will describe an effort to document and incorporate citizen monitoring contributions as part of the Northeast Integrated Sentinel Monitoring Network We will share some ways how we are working to overcome barriers, such as variable quality control measures and rating scale, lack of a robust data management framework, and sporadic engagement between scientists and citizens. We base our effort on the belief that it is just as important to empower citizens who collect data as it is to address scientific needs. Building capacity for local groups to collect and use their data to contribute to decision making is essential. We will also share some of our own best practices for data management framework, an essential component for meeting our goals of data availability, accessibility, and interoperability.