Understanding drought risk science: The role of citizen science in engaging volunteers and school children

Drought is anticipated to become more frequent and severe in the UK. However, longer-term ecosystem responses to changing drought patterns and the inter-related impacts of climate, land management and human activities still... [ view full abstract ]

Drought is anticipated to become more frequent and severe in the UK. However, longer-term ecosystem responses to changing drought patterns and the inter-related impacts of climate, land management and human activities still need to be researched. The Drought Risk and You (DRY) Project aims to better understand these processes by exploring drought impacts on UK grasslands and trees through application of small scale ecological experiments working with citizen scientists. This paper reflects on if and how developing citizen science in these contexts increases awareness of local drought risk and its impacts.
Citizen science mobilises the efforts of volunteers to monitor and analyse natural phenomenon, but can also be used as a platform to unite scientists, communities and stakeholders, exchange knowledge and dialogue, enhance learning about environmental change, and advance locally relevant strategies to mitigate climate associated risks. Our research responds to the call for more investigation into the social outcomes from volunteer engagement in citizen science, and place-based research into how participation shapes personal human-environmental relationships, including awareness of environmental risk.
In this paper, we share initial results from trialling a narrative approach to explore how engagement in citizen science is shaping volunteers’ perceptions of trees, understanding/knowledge of drought risk and impacts on grassland and tree ecology, their connectedness to place, stewardship behaviour and perceptions of scientific research. Within DRY, citizen volunteers include school children, naturalists, students and environmental groups who play an important role in understanding drought associated risks on the environment. Volunteers are collecting data about plant growth in controlled ‘mesocosm’ experiments: designed to manipulate amounts of rainfall on grasslands, and by measuring changes in tree characteristics in urban and rural environments. Citizen science projects have also strong potential to integrate exchange of local knowledge. Here we are evaluating opportunities of ‘narrative walks’ in natural settings (e.g. woodlands/parks) to provide environmental cues that prompt discussion and critical reflection of personal experiences and enabling volunteers to exchange their local knowledge with scientists.
The paper reflects on how researching people’s experiences of citizen science into the ecological impacts of drought might provide greater insights about how this participation shapes human-environmental relationships including risk awareness. This has wider implications for how to strengthen public engagement strategies and effectively communicate drought risks on the environment, as well as how to engender critical reflection on water use.