Citizen Science at NHM: A Museum-Wide Approach

Los Angeles sits within the California Floristic Province, one of 35 global biodiversity hotspots as identified by Conservation International. The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHM) has begun a multi-year study... [ view full abstract ]

Los Angeles sits within the California Floristic Province, one of 35 global biodiversity hotspots as identified by Conservation International. The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHM) has begun a multi-year study on Los Angeles’s urban biodiversity so that scientists, educators, the public and decision makers can understand threats to L.A.’s flora and fauna. NHM is uniquely positioned to study biodiversity because we can compare current species distribution records to historic records housed in our extensive collections. This work enables NHM to better understand how biodiversity is affected by urbanization and the introduction of non-native species.

NHM’s citizen program is at the heart of this study. The program consists of three full-time employees focused on citizen science. They work closely with the Museum’s education and research staff on myriad citizen science projects to insure that appropriate data are collected and that participants understand how their contributions support this research. To accomplish this agenda, NHM created the 3.5-acre Nature Gardens. The gardens are used as a public field site for surveying urban biodiversity and as a training ground for citizen scientists.

NHM has four goals for its citizen science participants: to have fun, enjoyable experiences in nature; to increase their science self-efficacy; to increase their engagement with NHM; and to have greater appreciation and understanding of L.A.’s biodiversity. With this poster, we showcase how NHM uses a museum-wide, visitor-focused approach for incorporating citizen science into our interpretive, school/teacher, member, and training programs.