Figure 1
The Partnerships symposium world café in progress.
Figure 2
Examples of terminology commonly used to describe different forms of research partnerships between the public and professional scientists.
a Based on Shirk et al. 2012.
b Based on Collman 2014.
Figure 3
Demographic profile of US total and employment-aged population, STEM undergraduate degrees, and those with employment in science.
Sources: population— U.S. Census Bureau, 2012 Summary File, tables PCT12H–PCT12O; undergraduate STEM degrees— http://www.nsf.gov/nsb/sei/edTool/data/college-14.html; science employment—National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Scientists and Engineers Statistical Data System (SESTAT), 2013, Table 11–1.
*Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander includes those reporting two or more races (non-Hispanic) for science occupation data.
Table 1
Forms of participation in environmental citizen science projects in northern California with a focus on communities of color compared with all projects surveyed.
| n | % | n | % | n | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Communities of color | 12 | 5 | 42% | 2 | 17% | 5 | 42% |
| All others | 118 | 94 | 80% | 16 | 14% | 8 | 7% |
| Total | 130 | 99 | 76% | 18 | 14% | 13 | 10% |
[i] Reproduced with permission from Ballard and Dixon 2013.
Table 2
Compilation of observations from the CSA 2015 symposium Pathways to balance and partnership: advancing equity, inclusion, and local relevance in citizen science.
| Observations and recommendations | |
|---|---|
| Citizen Science Association (CSA) | |
| Structure | |
| Decentralize with local or regional chapters | |
| *Have teachers, community experts, youth leaders, and others be on advisory board, and members | |
| *Make structure, decision-making transparent, open, and accessible | |
| Topic based regional conferences | |
| Have a monthly featured community scientist | |
| General resources | |
| CSA as central resource for how-to, and how NOT-to information. | |
| *Analyses of models, practices that do and don’t work | |
| Need for awareness of existing programs and approaches to citizen science | |
| Map all citizen science projects (~cit sci meta data). Hands on the Land.org mapping project for tracking projects and collaborating | |
| *Connecting people regarding participatory action research (a good network for PAR researchers, including training, does not really exist, CSA could help provide that); see also publicscienceproject.org | |
| Networking to help people connect (example of http://www.eecapacity.net/, supposed to be developing networking tools modeled after a “dating site” to connect people to folks who might help with grant writing, community organizing); see Communication/bridging below | |
| Tools compendium online; e.g., CSA toolkit online at citizenscience.org; CitSci.org; other toolboxes | |
| Funding | |
| Crowdsource | |
| Fee waivers, scholarships, outreach to remove barriers to diversity | |
| Training | |
| *Cultural competency (American Evaluation Assoc, http://www.eval.org/), ethics, humility training | |
| *Best practices, models that work and why, reflexive practices | |
| Training of trainers, training scientists to work with media | |
| Adaptive management guidelines | |
| CSA conference | |
| Give the keynote address remote access online, also questions, comments submitted remotely | |
| *Consider a community member or volunteer give keynote | |
| Beware of duplication of speed and longer talks using up important conference time | |
| Focus on one topic or theme with different perspectives all in same session. Don’t make participation, inclusion a separate topic | |
| *More environmental health and justice talks, these are issues of interest to a more diverse population | |
| Lots of talk about diversity and inclusion, hard to see here (at CSA 2015 conference)! | |
| Format could be more welcoming | |
| Conference for volunteers | |
| *Have more interactive, participatory sessions | |
| *Involve, invite local communities more, provide support so they can come | |
| Virtual conferences every other year? | |
| CSA journal | |
| “Plain language” training, other eyes reviewers | |
| *Community reviewers, use feedback at each step in writing process | |
| In publications: provide “in-a-nutshell,” (or “implications for community members/leaders”) summary to papers | |
| Make it accessible–Can lots of people get access (online, do people know about it)? Is the writing style accessible? | |
| *Issue or theme based on reader ideas, community question | |
| Annual issue or theme on diversity in citizen science | |
| Practice in public and professional scientist partnerships | |
| Awareness of social context | |
| *Different values at individual, community, institutional, disciplinary levels | |
| *Recognize different end games: understanding science, community engagement, community emancipation and rights | |
| *Be aware of power relations within households and communities; e.g., gender dynamics | |
| Community liaisons getting burned out, so address how to distribute the burden, and provide resources for this | |
| *Who are community “leaders?” How to identify leaders, build capacity. Consider how identifying leaders can be problematic, leaders may equal gatekeepers for better or worse | |
| Communication/bridging | |
| *Work with groups and people different than the usual ones | |
| Lack of communication between different types of people or groups (i.e., community members, professional scientists, teachers, cultural leaders) and between similar types of groups (neighborhood centers, health NGOs, citizen science projects) | |
| Create a “dating site” to identify non-traditional partners, e.g., outside of environmental groups | |
| *Language used by scientists can exclude others, alienate nonscientists | |
| Toolkits, mentors, directory, and map of projects to support new citizen science endeavors | |
| *Communication among scientists | |
| Communication integrated at all stages of research process | |
| Nurture individuals who are honest liasons within and among groups | |
| *Mutual trust and respect require time, shared experience; try breaking bread, productive hanging out | |
| Meet ups for “volunteers” (so they go beyond their role in “our” projects), but should we go there (to their meetups)? | |
| Connect with teachers through district level PDs, teacher advisory boards, NGSS alignment guides for curriculum | |
| *Cultural change in science | |
| Scientists need to consider commitments beyond professional advancement; humility training, separating self as human being from professional ego, don’t be defensive | |
| Recognize and consider values of communities and scientists; develop ethical strategies when these differ | |
| Make long term commitments with communities where working, they are more than your “project site” | |
| Science and partnerships require cultural competency | |
| Use multidisciplinary approaches | |
| Convince scientists that citizen science is real science; address scientists’ fear of low data quality; what is science and who defines it and the data and methods that are acceptable, useful? | |
| Practice in public and professional scientist partnerships | |
| Methods, quality | |
| Education is important but not central to citizen science mission | |
| Decentralize support via online resources, regional groups | |
| Engage and support teachers, mentors, facilitators, and others who can work with groups or students | |
| Support project evaluation | |
| Support, encourage social benefits for the public participants in projects | |
| Research that contributes to public’s scientific literacy | |
| *How to identify leaders, build capacity (see above, Awareness of social context regarding leaders) | |
| Funding and other resources | |
| Time and financial support needed to manage/coordinate the projects “for life” | |
| Constraints on teachers’ time; provide lesson plans | |
| *Funding for engagement, not just outreach | |
| *More creative funding opportunities recognizing need for interdisciplinarity, partnerships, and long term engagement by all; removing institutional, disciplinary barriers and territoriality | |
| *Power dynamics, knowledge valued | |
| Need to build trust | |
| Everyone (public, professional scientists, educators, policymakers) can feel their knowledge is not recognized or respected | |
| Different or inaccessible language reinforces distance and barriers | |
| Lack of respect results in fear of speaking up, participating | |
| When a scientist enters the room, conversation stops (expert on a pedestal)! | |
| Who is asking the questions? Who believes the questions are important to them? | |
| Asking questions where the community knows more - everyone contributes | |
| Education can be confounded with expertise | |
| What is in a project for the community, for non-professional scientists? | |
| Communities, individuals need to see value to them |
[i] * Reflexive approach.
[CSA = Citizen Science Association; CS = citizen science; NGO = non-governmental organization].