Introduction
Museums have great potential to serve as hubs connecting local communities with relevant science-related issues. As trusted public institutions (e.g., AAM 2018), science museums play important educational roles in their communities (e.g., Falk and Needham 2011). Given their active engagement in scientific research, natural history museums (NHMs) in particular are promising places for participatory science (or, “citizen science”), in which community members engage in authentic scientific practices in collaboration with scientists to advance biodiversity research. Previous studies have shown that both the scientific and educational goals of participatory science can be met at NHMs (Nuessle et al. 2020). Furthermore, creating opportunities for participatory science benefits both the local community and the greater scientific community as citizen science enhances positive outcomes for participants (Bonney et al. 2016), from knowledge gain (Brossard et al. 2005) to place attachment (Halliwell et al. 2021) to sense of self (He et al. 2019), and at the same time collects large amounts of scientific data (Spear et al. 2017) that can contribute to conservation outcomes (Ballard et al. 2017).
Natural history museums as collaborative hubs for participatory science
As conveners of science, people, and conversation, natural history museums (NHMs) are well-suited to support participatory science projects. The missions of NHMs often encompass themes of advancing scientific knowledge about the natural world through maintaining collections, conducting multi-disciplinary research, and servicing the community through public engagement and science communication (Hecker et al. 2018). Through these community connections, NHMs strive to inspire curiosity and nurture scientific inquiry among diverse people of all ages and backgrounds (von Braun et al. 2020). Participatory science can expand opportunities for NHMs to engage the diverse public, as such projects invite public participation in research and foster connections to museum researchers (Sforzi 2017). As Caren Cooper (2016) writes in a Smithsonian special edition, “When museums support citizen science, they become not only centers for learning about science, but also centers for doing science” (p. 1). Additionally, the impact of combining crowd-sourced projects with ongoing museum research can be significant for biodiversity research (Ballard et al. 2017).
Natural history museums, like the field of citizen science, have well-documented historical links with amateur scientists (Miller-Rushing et al. 2012; Hecker et al. 2018; Gardiner & Roy 2022). Over the past 30 years, many NHMs around the globe have incorporated participatory science into their institutions, particularly in Europe where coordinated initiatives and research infrastructures have supported its development (Hecker et al., 2018). More recently, United States–based museums, such as the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, have also demonstrated successful integration of participatory science within NHM contexts (von Braun et al. 2020; Goforth et al. 2014), including leadership in large-scale initiatives such as the co-founding of the City Nature Challenge, a globally coordinated effort built on community science platforms like iNaturalist (Aristeidou et al. 2021).
More importantly, NHMs act as conveners, or hubs, of scientific connection and instruction. These institutions bring together multi-disciplinary voices and perspectives, serving as interfaces between scientific research and broader public and institutional communities (Sforzi 2017). Individuals affiliated with NHMs conduct scientific work not only within museum settings but also in the field and across networks that include institutions of higher education, professional societies, and community organizations. NHMs serve as foundations for a growing number of citizen science projects addressing NHM-related topics across these networks. Projects that bridge NHM-based research and participatory science have demonstrated significant impacts in transforming how community members contribute to the advancement of scientific knowledge (Bonney et al. 2016; Ballard et al. 2017; Aguilar et al. 2026).
An often-referenced early example of this role is the Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Count (CBC), initiated in 1900 by Ornithologist Frank Chapman during his tenure at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) (Vuilleumier 2005). The CBC demonstrates how museum-affiliated scientists have historically operated beyond institutional walls to engage the public in large-scale scientific data collection. The project encourages participants to count and record birds each December, generating long-term data on species distribution and abundance, and is recognized as the longest-running active participatory science project (Dunn et al. 2005).
Much of the CBC’s success stems from the public’s interests and emotions; specifically, their connections with nature and passions around birds and birding (Bateman 2024). These passions have yielded a valuable dataset spanning more than 100 years, growing from 27 people recording 18,500 birds on December 25, 1900, to more than 80,000 observers recording more than 40 million birds annually from December 16 to January 5 (Dunn et al. 2005; National Audubon Society 2025). While the CBC was not formally part of Chapman’s institutional responsibilities, it emerged within and alongside his work at AMNH, illustrating how museum researchers can engage across professional, organizational, and community contexts. In this way, the CBC highlights how NHMs and their affiliated scientists can function as hubs of scientific exploration and connection, linking institutional research with broader public participation.
Despite the demonstrated potential and documented success of participatory science in NHMs, relatively little published literature has examined how United States (US)–based NHMs implement these programs in practice, limiting opportunities to identify and share effective models across institutions (e.g., Ballard et al. 2017; Aguilar et al. 2026).
Leveraging multi-disciplinary teams in a natural history museum
The Natural History Museum of Utah (“the Museum”) is the State of Utah’s official museum of natural history, situated within the state’s highest density urban area in the Salt Lake Valley along the western margin of the Wasatch Front. The Museum is the largest museum in the intermountain west. As an active research institution that is part of the University of Utah, the Museum hosts a range of research teams and collections, including Vertebrate Zoology, Paleontology, Archaeology, and Learning Sciences, among others, and houses nearly 2 million objects. Notably, in 2020, the Museum hired its first Curator of Learning Sciences, a jointly appointed faculty position with the University of Utah. The primary role of this position is research, and the Curator built a research team of students and staff that works to advance scientific understanding of learning, going beyond program evaluation. This innovative team collaborates with multiple Museum departments and programs to study learning in many forms across the museum.
The Museum has a robust Education and Community Engagement Department which includes the Citizen Science initiative. First established in 2016, the initiative aims to build bridges between Museum programs, audiences, and research, and to involve the public as active participants in scientific inquiry with the goal of making science inclusive, accessible, and approachable to all. Together, the Citizen Science, Vertebrate Zoology, and Learning Sciences teams (collectively referred to as “the Team”) collaborated over many years, beginning in 2018, to develop a citizen science project aimed at both engaging the public and growing scientific knowledge around a local issue—the expansion of a non-native population of the eastern fox squirrel (Sciurus niger). Herein, we document and describe this multi-disciplinary effort.
Citizen science to understand fox squirrels in Utah
The fox squirrel is one of the few North American squirrel species considered to be urban adapters, exhibiting heightened sociability in the urban environment (Devitz and Dantzer 2024). While their native range is east of the Rocky Mountains, due to human-mediated introduction, they are also found across the western US (Thorington et al. 2012; Peplinski and Brown 2020) and were first observed in Utah’s Salt Lake Valley in 2011 (Armstrong et al. 2025).
Observing a recently introduced species as it becomes established in a novel ecosystem with high human population density is a unique opportunity for data gathering and learning. Crowdsourcing data collection is an attractive method to gather information on this species, not just because there are many people to make observations, but because in urban settings, fox squirrels can be easily observed and identified by the public (Thorington et al. 2012; Peplinski and Brown 2020). Additionally, because the wide-spread distribution and visibility of squirrels make them model mammals in the study of behavior and ecology (Tran et al. 2022; Thorington et al. 2012), their arrival in Utah also offered a unique opportunity to develop a project that linked valuable research with crowd-sourced data collection and public interest to create a long-term dataset on fox squirrels, taking inspiration from historical projects like the CBC.
The Team set out to develop a project guided by four aims related to research and community engagement efforts at our NHM:
Assess fox squirrel population location and density in Utah by engaging the public in data collection;
Strengthen public understanding of fox squirrel origins, behavior, and habitat;
Strengthen relationships between community members and the Museum;
Develop a successful research project that is equipped to create a long-term data set.
This case study offers a reflection of approaches and opportunities, and our subsequent recommendations resulting from this work.
Exploring the Fox Squirrel Citizen Science Project Case
Phase 1: Origins of the project
In 2011, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources reported anecdotal sightings of eastern fox squirrels in Salt Lake City but did not have the capacity to explore this further. In 2013, the first iNaturalist observation of an eastern fox squirrel in Utah was made by a citizen scientist (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/469879), followed by 31 additional fox squirrel observations submitted to iNaturalist from 2014 to 2017, as well as physical evidence in the form of Museum specimens (Derieg et al. 2022).
In 2018, with clear evidence of an established and expanding fox squirrel population in the greater Salt Lake City area, the Museum’s Vertebrate Zoology and Citizen Science teams saw a unique opportunity to study the impacts of this newly arrived species through a citizen science project that could address the basic question of how fox squirrels were adapting to the novel environment of northern Utah (Figure 1).
Figure 1
A timeline of phases in the evolution of the Utah Fox Squirrel Citizen Science Project. UDWR = Utah Division of Wildlife Resources; NHMU = Natural History Museum of Utah.
Citizen Scientists make early observations on iNaturalist
In this initial phase, the Team decided to utilize iNaturalist to formally track squirrels. The platform is free, publicly accessible, easy to use, and designed to gather biodiversity data using geotags and photo identification (iNaturalist Network 2026), and iNaturalist already had a small base of users reporting on fox squirrels. The team created a Project in the platform, titled “Utah Fox Squirrels: Tracking a New Arrival,” and set parameters to collate all observations of fox squirrels submitted to iNaturalist in Utah made on any date.
To encourage new citizen scientists to use iNaturalist to photograph fox squirrels in their communities, the Team hosted more than 20 bioblitz events from January 2018 to October 2020 at local parks with established squirrel populations, and tabled at dozens of community events to introduce the project to individuals throughout northern Utah. The Team also collaborated with Museum marketing staff to create a project website and to create additional promotion through email, newsletter, and social media. These communications were sent periodically throughout the year, typically associated with monthly newsletters and events.
During this time, the Team met to learn from each other and discuss progress. The Team also used direct messaging in iNaturalist to communicate with frequent fox squirrel observers in Utah, and recruited several to become Museum volunteers who assisted with the project.
Phase 1: Implications and recommendations
This project would not have been possible without the initial collaboration between vertebrate researchers and citizen science staff. Despite strong interest, each team faced barriers that made independently starting a project difficult or impossible. The citizen science team had limited number of staff and lacked vertebrate-specific scientific expertise. Likewise, collections and research teams can face barriers to public engagement within an NHM, given conflicting academic responsibilities, varying research priorities, limited experience conducting outreach programming, and constrained time and resources (Hecker et al. 2018). Researchers were able to overcome these barriers by collaborating with citizen science staff to develop this initial version of the project—combining their respective expertise and time to co-create a mutually beneficial project.
Additionally, assistance from the Museum’s Marketing staff, who had pre-established listservs, social media followings, and communication tools, meant the Team was able to advertise broadly and quickly, which helped with initial project visibility.
This initial phase ran from 2018 to late 2020 and proved to be a useful pilot period that cultivated important relationships, not only within the Team itself, but also with the community. The well-attended public bioblitzes and tabling events facilitated many conversations with the public that indicated obvious interest and curiosity around this newly arrived species. Many attendees had questions about these squirrels, and wanted to share stories—some positive, others negative—about the squirrels they were observing in their own neighborhoods. These public events were invaluable opportunities for the Team to learn from the community and fueled future development of the project.
The depth of public interest in the project, and in fox squirrels specifically, was an unexpected outcome of this pilot. Based on public feedback, it was clear to the Team that more could be done to engage with, educate, and to learn from the public related to fox squirrels. The start of the project was also confirmation to research staff that participatory science was a successful method for tracking fox squirrels in Utah. Citizen scientists were submitting iNaturalist observations from around the Salt Lake Valley, providing valuable insight into the suspected expansion of the species, with a total of 815 fox squirrel observations recorded on iNaturalist through November 2020.
In this early phase, researchers still had more questions than answers, especially related to squirrel population and density. iNaturalist alone does not provide a representative sample of the presence, absence, and spread of species (Carlen et al. 2024), nor does it consistently track information on species behavior. In particular, iNaturalist tracks only the presence of a squirrel with a geotag and photo and does not record where squirrels are not being seen or account for where iNaturalist users are not visiting, making it difficult to document range expansion.
Additionally, it was important to the Team to begin cultivating a retained base of project participants. While usernames are displayed in iNaturalist when making an observation, and direct messages and comments on observations can be used to reach out to an observer, forging relationships with users on iNaturalist can be challenging, and communication through the platform can be time consuming. By cultivating a strong base early, we were able to lay the groundwork for future project expansion.
Recommendations
Collaborate across teams when possible to leverage the wide range of expertise in a museum setting. This includes bridging education and research teams and engaging with marketing and graphics teams.
Ensure data collection allows for broad community participation and feedback, and continually seek ways to expand participation.
Phase 2a: Project expansion through integration of Survey123
As a passive way to collect data from the ever-growing cohort of local iNaturalist users, the Utah Fox Squirrels iNaturalist Project remained a source of squirrel data collection. However, knowing that citizen science can produce high quality data across many different contexts and study foci (Baker et al. 2021), the Team also sought to create a custom survey to reach a broader audience and capture more detailed data on fox squirrels. From a management standpoint, the Team needed a platform that was simple to use and code and that could utilize geographic results, visualize data, and handle large data sets. From a community engagement standpoint, the platform needed to be simple to access and utilize. The Team settled on ArcGIS Survey123, a platform that offers customizations for survey building, utilizing GIS software and mapping, and visualizing data. Furthermore, the platform offered ease for data reporters, as surveys do not require accounts or passwords, and can be accessed on multiple devices (https://survey123.arcgis.com, accessed May 2026).
We developed the survey to incorporate field research methodology used in mammalogy and wildlife biology, including principles from structured observation and occupancy-focused study design, to capture information beyond the presence-only data available through iNaturalist. Our protocol incorporated habitat variables, potential inter-squirrel interactions, and also included non-detections (areas surveyed without squirrel presence) to better identify factors influencing fox squirrel range expansion.
The survey principally includes closed-ended items with drop-down menus and check boxes but also includes open-ended text responses and an opportunity to submit photos (see Supplemental File for full survey details). Most data fields are not required, except for date, time, and location information, as well as noting the presence or absence of a squirrel.
To provide background, objectives, and informal training for data reporters, the survey begins with a brief statement of how data will assist in the gathering of information and outlines recommendations for data entry. The main part of the survey includes four sections that are active year-round.
Section one of the survey aims to capture basic location information, the presence or absence of squirrels, and what species of squirrel is believed to be involved. An important aspect of this section is the addition of “no” to the question, “Did you see or hear at least one eastern fox squirrel?” To assist participants with ID, this section also includes images of local squirrel species.
Section two of the survey aims to collect details about the observation; specifically, how many fox squirrels were seen and the behavior of the squirrel(s). Here, participants can upload photos of the squirrel to help the research team with species identification, and there is an open-ended text entry box for additional comments. Except for number of squirrels observed, all other fields are optional. Section two is only visible if reporter selects “Yes” when asked if they saw or heard at least one eastern fox squirrel.
Section three of the survey is viewable to all survey respondents, but all responses are optional. This section was designed to help researchers better understand how fox squirrels interact with their environment. Questions ask respondents about temperature, weather, proximity to water and urban food sources (like gardens or bird feeders), and tree varieties and density.
Section four of the survey asks respondents if the Museum may contact the data reporter about observations made. If participants opt in, they are then asked for contact information.
In efforts to make the survey as widely available as possible, it can be found in several places—online (nhmu.utah.edu/squirrels), via the Survey123 app with no log in, and from QR codes used on bookmarks, flyers, and yard signs.
Phase 2a: Implications and recommendations
Following the development of the custom Survey123 tool, survey submissions from throughout northern Utah skyrocketed. From December 2020 through December 2021, 1,201 surveys had been submitted to Survey123. The amount of data submitted also skyrocketed. In addition to reports on the presence or absence of a fox squirrel, each survey has the possibility of reporting on 28 additional data variables, including GPS location, date, time, weather, and habitat variables like tree type and density, food sources, and the presence or absence of powerlines.
By design, the survey has few required fields, utilizing opt-ins and skip logic to provide flexibility for data reporters. The Team saw the launch of the new survey as a unique time to include a variety of questions that could help build a picture of not only where but how fox squirrels were interacting with the environment. While the Team did have reservations about making the survey too long and thus uninviting, they also felt that encouraging participants to explore aspects of squirrel behavior and reflect on the associated environments might assist in deeper observation and learning for participants, in addition to providing valuable research data (Meschini et al. 2021). It was decided to include these questions initially and monitor their response rate. During the first year of the survey, Citizen scientists demonstrated excellent compliance in reporting essential fox squirrel data, with 100% of observations including presence/absence information and date/time. Optional variables were also recorded at high rates (61–99%), including 80% of respondents answering yes to “May we contact you about your findings?” These individuals, and all future opt-ins, were added to a dedicated listserv that receives emails from the Team with invitations to webinars and events that involve squirrel-specific data collection or reporting.
This high response rate gave the Team confidence to continue using these questions into subsequent years of the survey. In 2025, cumulative response rates to total survey responses remained high (60–98%).
It should be noted that the survey had snags as well. While every survey entry included a GPS field, some values were invalid, and accurate entries dropped from 99.7% in 2020 to 32% in 2021, and by 2025, accurate GPS readings for all survey responses was at 61%. The year-2 drop in accuracy led to an iteration of the survey tool that specifically added several questions to collect more location data, to provide data analysts with back-up information on the location in case a response is insufficiently entered or satellite information is incorrect. For example, user browser and privacy settings sometimes interfere with the ArcGIS geotag location in our experience with the tool. Also of note with this project is that increase in data means more analysis for statisticians assisting with the project.
Museum volunteers have been essential to survey data analysis, including one who is a co-author on this study, by assisting in statistical analysis and mapping. Data show expansion of squirrels into new areas of Utah beyond the Salt Lake City area, which will be explored in future publications with these Volunteers.
Recommendations
Develop a survey tool that captures data in useful ways for both researchers and data reporters and is available to wide audiences.
Phase 2b: Inspiring public participation
Squirrel Fest as a catalyst for data collection and squirrel outreach
In early phases of the project, the Team hosted a variety of in-person bioblitz events, spending a few hours at local parks in effort to increase project visibility. In December of 2020, the Team combined the rollout of the new custom squirrel survey with the emerging “on-your-own” engagement model that became a necessity for many public institutions during the COVID-19 era. The Museum had already experienced success encouraging independent data collection for citizen science projects during this time, as had other institutions (Zellmer et al. 2020), and it was suspected this model might assist with enhancing public participation in the new survey, thus increasing the geographic scope of data collection to better understand the distribution of squirrels.
The Team called this new model of engagement Squirrel Fest, inspired by the CBC and designed as an annual effort taking place over a nine-day window in early December—including two weekends and a full week—to maximize participation. Squirrel Fest participants are encouraged to look for squirrels in locations of their own choosing, including their own neighborhoods, in previously surveyed sites, or in entirely new areas across Utah, contributing to the development of a long-term dataset.
Early December is well suited for Squirrel Fest for both ecological and programmatic reasons in Utah. Fox squirrels are active year-round, and with deciduous trees largely leafless by December, they are easier to observe. This period is also slower for Museum programming and fieldwork, allowing more staff capacity for outreach and promotion.
To incentivize participation during the first year of Squirrel Fest, the Team created a limited-edition squirrel-themed face mask and offered these to the first 100 people to submit surveys during the Fest. Each year since, Squirrel Fest has included a new participation incentive, always involving a limited-edition squirrel art piece designed by a local artist (see Figure 2), and increasing to accommodate the first 250 survey participants in 2025. Subsequent incentives included a bandana, followed by a magnet, and evolving to a sticker, which the team has repeated due to cost-efficiency for printing and mailing. Participants must opt in to be eligible for the incentive in addition to providing a mailing address. To collect this information, a Squirrel Fest–specific section of the survey (Section 5), typically hidden during the rest of the year, is activated by the Team.
Figure 2
Digital image of the 2022 Squirrel Fest art piece given to participants. The drawing was commissioned from a local Diné (Navajo) artist, Michael Haswood. The Museum printed the art on magnets that were then mailed to the first 250 participants (Copyright Natural History Museum of Utah).
During and following COVID-19 restrictions, the Team hosted livestreamed videoconferences ahead of Squirrel Fest, featuring Museum scientists answering questions about fox squirrels, as well as a virtual Data Showcase following the event, where researchers share findings and engage with participants. In the years following COVID-19 restrictions, to aid in Squirrel Fest public relations, some smaller in-person events have been held at the Museum and in local parks. These events function much like the early events in the project—as opportunities to communicate with the public, build buy-in, and connect the Team with participants in ways that inform ongoing iteration of project materials and messaging.
Squirrel Fest requires relatively minimal staffing. In advance of the event, the citizen science manager coordinates with a local artist and collaborates with Marketing on promotional materials, website updates, press, emails, and social media. A small number of Team members support outreach and media engagement during the event. In-person events typically involve 2–3 staff, including a researcher with Museum specimens. Following the event, the citizen science manager identifies eligible incentive recipients and works with staff to prepare and mail materials. The Project’s volunteer statistician, a co-Author on this case study, then analyzes the data for presentation to the community.
The cumulative efforts to host the event have proved to be a success from the start, as Squirrel Fest has always been main driver of survey submissions, consistently accounting for 41–60% of yearly surveys.
Marketing and communication
When it comes to recruiting and retaining survey participants for Squirrel Fest, and throughout the year, communication with the public is crucial.
The Team collaborates with the Museum’s Marketing and Graphics teams to create print and digital materials, often launched during Squirrel Fest, and then used year-round. In 2021, evergreen yard signs with a call to action, eye-catching graphic, and QR code linking to the survey were introduced (see Figure 3), and are provided to the public for free and re-printed yearly as needed. Bookmarks with survey information were designed soon after and are also distributed at the Museum and outreach events year-round.
Figure 3
A photograph of the Museum’s very popular squirrel yard sign, which can be used year-round, to encourage participation in the Fox Squirrel Citizen Science Project.
For Squirrel Fest, Marketing sends reminder emails ahead of and during the event, and a thank you email at the end, including highlights. These emails utilize the extensive listservs curated by the Museum. Throughout the year, periodic emails are sent through the citizen science listserv with updates on the project.
Virtual and in-person presentations and events also play a large role in communicating with the public.
Additionally, the Museum’s website serves as a central hub for project information, including a regularly updated landing page (nhmu.utah.edu/squirrels) with the survey link, project background, and educational resources. These include species identification guides, recorded presentations, and materials tailored for educators and the general public. A live map of submitted survey data is also available, and acts as the primary outlet for sharing data with the public.
Phase 2b: Implications and recommendations
Marketing and communications efforts, combined with the structure of Squirrel Fest, work together to significantly increase the visibility, reach, and impact of the Project. As demonstrated by increased survey submission during Squirrel Fest, structured events coupled with targeted communication strategies can enhance the scale of public engagement.
Resources developed for Squirrel Fest, supported by the Marketing and Graphic Design teams, have additional value as year-round outreach tools, and are utilized in a variety of programming. Coordinated campaigns—including yard signs, digital and print materials, media coverage, and ongoing website and listserv engagement—raise awareness and direct new audiences to participate in the survey, while Squirrel Fest provides a focused, time-bound opportunity that inspires engagement and inquiry. Together, these efforts not only increase participation during Squirrel Fest, but also expand the geographic scope of data collection by encouraging observations in both familiar locations and previously unsampled areas.
Over the course of the Project, local media has shown consistent interest in fox squirrels, Squirrel Fest, and crowd-sourced data collection, supported by collaboration with the Marketing teams. Year-round media coverage has further amplified the project’s reach, with features across television, radio, print, and podcasts producing noticeable increases in survey submissions. For example, a January 2023 feature in the Salt Lake Tribune (Harkins 2023) resulted in a clear spike in survey participation.
Squirrel Fest participation incentives serve multiple purposes: highlighting local artists, rewarding contributors, encouraging repeat participation, and recruiting new audiences. Additionally, the opt-in survey component specific to the Squirrel Fest incentive has also enabled the continued development of a dedicated listserv, supporting ongoing communication, participant retention, and dissemination of findings to a dedicated audience.
Beyond recruitment and outreach, we found that sustaining participation required creating opportunities for ongoing, two-way communication between the project team and the public. Online and in-person events related to Squirrel Fest provided valuable opportunities for participants to learn about local squirrels, ask questions, and interact with researchers, while also enabling the team to learn from the community. Based on conversations at these events, as well as social media comments and emails, the team developed a list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) and expanded educational content to better address participant interests. For example, incorporating information about squirrel dental structure and native food sources responded directly to common questions while also deepening public understanding of natural history.
To further support this engagement, the team developed mechanisms to communicate results back to participants and create opportunities for dialogue, including data report-back sessions and virtual engagement opportunities. These interactions informed ongoing updates to educational materials and communication strategies, allowing the project to evolve in response to community input.
These findings suggest that communication strategies that incorporate feedback loops and opportunities for dialogue play a critical role in sustaining participation in citizen science projects, reinforcing the importance of treating communication as an ongoing, interactive process rather than a one-way dissemination of information.
Recommendations
Develop recognizable and engaging programs, like Squirrel Fest, that create recurring opportunities for participation.
Create methods to communicate results back to the community and provide opportunities for conversation.
Iterate educational information about the project to include information relevant to frequently asked questions.
Phase 3: Learning sciences enters the picture
In 2021, shortly after its inception at the Museum, the Learning Sciences team joined the Project to build knowledge about how and why people participated and about the meaningful connections with the broader community forged that have evolved the Museum’s approach to participatory science. The component of this project that collected learning sciences data from human participants was approved by the University of Utah Institutional Review Board (IRB_00148911).
Learning sciences research data collection and analysis
For approximately two months in 2021, we collected learning sciences research data. The purpose of this phase was to build empirical knowledge about participants’ engagement with the project, including motivation for participation and learning through the project. These data were analyzed, and we intend to compile specific results to share in a future publication in which full methodological detail of the study will be provided. For the purposes of this case study, we provide an overview of this phase of the project and highlights from our initial data analysis.
Three types of data were collected: survey data through a temporary addition to the Squirrel Survey (which included an informed consent page), interview data through participant interviews at events, and anonymized email data through curation by the Citizen Science team. In total, 434 completed surveys were collected and analyzed. After verbal consent was obtained, select participants were interviewed at an in-person Squirrel Fest event using a semi-structured interview guide. Because interviews were conducted in a public space, multiple family members could be interviewed at the same time. Fifteen interviews were conducted, with a total of 17 participants. Interviews were audio recorded. For both open-ended survey responses and interview data, an emergent codebook was developed through an inductive coding process. Two investigators discussed and agreed on themes and subthemes, and interrater reliability was established.
Throughout implementation of the Project, the Museum’s citizen science manager publicly posted their work email address on the project’s website, to provide an outlet for community input, conversation, and survey assistance. As a result, members of the public frequently emailed to describe interactions with fox squirrels or share their opinions on local fox squirrels. Given this phenomenon, we opted to use these emails as a data source—a decision approved by our institution’s IRB. Emails were deidentified, and 15 emails were analyzed by two investigators using an emergent codebook. As with interview data, after coding, themes relevant to intended outcomes were identified for the purposes of this case study.
Phase 3: Implications and recommendations
By 2021, the Team had noted relatively high survey participation in the Project by the public, with annual survey submissions growing. The learning sciences data collected in Phase 3 offers insights to potentially explain this high interest and participation by the public. The survey data suggested several factors potentially motivating participation, with many participants having selected “contributing to science” and/or “curiosity” as motivating their participation, particularly those who participated during the nine-day Squirrel Fest. Responses to an open-ended survey item asking about what kind of identities participants experienced reinforce the idea that contributing to science was an important motivator of participation. Many respondents wrote explanations related to science, such as how they were observers, scientists, or—more specifically—citizen scientists.
Additionally, data collected helped us as a larger project team understand the extent to which we were reaching some of our goals, particularly our aims around enhancing public understanding of fox squirrels and around fostering relationships between the community and the Museum. For example, we saw evidence that many participants had developed stronger understandings of squirrels. Many interview participants evidenced understanding that fox squirrels are not native to the area and that their population had grown rapidly in recent years. One interviewee commented, “I didn’t know fox squirrels were in Salt Lake. I didn’t realize they had that little colony in Salt Lake, so that was pretty interesting.” The idea that the population of squirrels is relatively new to the area was knowledge that some participants had not had prior to participating.
Similarly, several participants evidenced developing understandings related to fox squirrels’ interactions with the environment, including their diet. For example, many participants described witnessing interactions between a fox squirrel and other wildlife, such as birds. One participant wrote in an email “there’s the fox squirrel sitting on the top of my fence eating a peanut that somebody had left out, probably for the bird, for the jays, but the jays hide them all over and fox squirrel find them.” In this comment, the participant demonstrates their own discernment about fox squirrels and their diet.
Other participants wrote emails that demonstrated their understanding of fox squirrels’ needs in adapting to their relatively new urban environment of the local city. For example, fox squirrels must find food that wears down their teeth, as their teeth grow continually, creating issues with eating if not attended to. After being asked on numerous occasions about “what they can feed fox squirrels,” the Team added information about squirrel diets and related physical features to the Project website, and discussed in public presentations. One participant described how they had responded to help fox squirrels with this issue, by saying, “I’ve been loading my squirrel feeders with sunflower and shelled walnuts. What should I be putting in there to help with their dental issues?” That they had already provided squirrels with hard food (shelled nuts and seeds) and continued to investigate suggest that this participant had come to understand this particular need of fox squirrels.
Considering the original four aims of the project, we also see evidence of strengthening relationships with the community. For example, many survey respondents indicated that the connection to the Museum was one of their motivating factors in participating. Furthermore, connections to the Museum were often cited by interviewees. For example, when asked why they chose to participate in the project, one interviewee explained, “Well, I really love the Natural History Museum and here in Utah.”
Recommendations
Integrating social sciences into citizen science projects has potential to uncover deeper understanding of participant motivations and learning.
Be prepared to receive many inquiries from the public and develop ethically sound methods to retain anecdotal correspondence from the community and revise communication topics and methods to reflect these community interests.
Discussion: What We Accomplished
At the start of the Fox Squirrel Citizen Science Project, we articulated four aims:
Assess fox squirrel population location and density in Utah by engaging the public in data collection;
Strengthen public understanding of fox squirrel origins, behavior, and habitat;
Strengthen relationships between community members and the Museum;
Develop a successful research project that is equipped to create a long-term data set.
Upon critical reflection afforded by this case study, we believe that we have made great progress in achieving these aims. First, the Fox Squirrel project has made substantial progress in assessing fox squirrel population location and density in Utah. From December 2020 through December 2025, 6,536 surveys had been submitted to Survey123 by over 3,800 different community volunteers, each reporting from 0 to 34 individuals at survey sites and reporting more than 11,000 fox squirrel sightings in total. Combining this with the fox squirrel observations added to iNaturalist, citizen scientists have submitted a total of 9,441 surveys through December 2025 (see Figure 4).
Figure 4
A graph showing cumulative number of observations of fox squirrels in Utah from iNaturalist and Survey123 platforms, 2013–2025. Crowd-sourced survey submissions have steadily increased over the course of the Fox Squirrel Citizen Science Project.
Data show expansion of squirrels into new areas of Utah beyond the Salt Lake City area, which will be explored in future publications. As fox squirrel populations expand across the US, more data are needed to understand their spread and potential impact on local ecosystems. Participatory science is uniquely poised to assist in continued data collection (Ballard et al. 2017). These outcomes illustrate the role of the Museum as a hub of scientific activity, extending data collection beyond institutional boundaries and into community networks (Sforzi 2017).
Attending to our second and third aims, our interactions with the public suggest that many participants grew their understanding of fox squirrels through contributing to data collection and that the project afforded many opportunities to grow relationships between the Museum and the community—a finding bolstered by the learning sciences research conducted within this project. These phenomena align with previous research showing increases in self-efficacy, identity and agency, and environmental and content knowledge when participating in NHM citizen science (Ballard et al. 2017). To such findings, we add that participatory science not only supports learning outcomes but also serves as a critical mechanism for strengthening relationships between NHMs and the public, reinforcing the role of these institutions as community-centered spaces for scientific engagement.
Finally, attending to our fourth aim, with a useful survey tool with high completion rates, popular programs like Squirrel Fest, and a collaborative Team, the Project is well equipped to continue. Combining this crowd-sourced data collection with learning science data shows a robust NHM project that harnesses public interest to benefit natural science data collection. Continuing to tap into public interest will allow the Project to maintain community interest while collecting long range data on the locality and behavior of squirrels. In this way, this case study contributes to addressing a recognized gap in the literature by providing a detailed example of how a US-based NHM designs, implements, and sustains a participatory science project in practice. These findings highlight the importance of examining participatory science not only in terms of outcomes, but also in terms of how projects can be operationalized within institutional contexts.
In many ways, this Project reinforces prior research on citizen science that has shown myriad benefits for the public and the scientific community (e.g., Brossard et al. 2005; Nuessle et al. 2020). Community members engaged with the Project and learned about squirrels and the ecosystem, with many likely to continue making observations and/or to modify behaviors to interact with squirrels differently.
Additionally, this project demonstrates a successful pathway to effective cross-disciplinary collaboration within an NHM. Our hope is to inspire the continued expansion of collaboration on crowd-sourced research projects, particularly in the field of learning sciences. Citizen science teams are conveners within a Museum—not just in creating engaging and useful research projects that leverage participatory science contributions from the community, but across Museum staff and disciplines.
Conclusion
The Fox Squirrel Citizen Science Project has served as an opportunity to collect valuable scientific data on a rapidly expanding, non-native population in northern Utah. Additionally, it has tapped into a species of strong public interest, demonstrating how familiarity and affinity for everyday wildlife—similar to long-standing projects such as the Christmas Bird Count—can inform participation, public engagement, and education, and support long-term data collection. In doing so, this project has gained heightened visibility and strengthened relationships among community members and the Museum. With this work, we offer a model for how NHMs can activate participatory science and multi-disciplinary teams to address emerging ecological challenges, collect meaningful data, and strengthen connections with their communities.
Supplementary File
The supplementary file for this article can be found as follows:
Data Accessibility Statement
Human subjects data is not currently available to protect the privacy of participants. Data collected through iNaturalist is publicly available via iNaturalist. Data on squirrels collected through Survey123 is viewable online (personally identifiable information removed): https://nhmu.utah.edu/citizen-science/utah-fox-squirrels.
Ethics and Consent
This study was approved by the University of Utah Institutional Review Board (IRB_ 00148911). Consent was obtained only when collecting human subjects data: temporary additional survey data and interview data. For survey data, consent was obtained through an informed consent page embedded in the survey. For interview data, consent was obtained verbally using an informed consent document.
Author Contributions
Ellen Eiriksson led manuscript writing, with contributions from Ashley Snyder and Lynne Zummo. Analysis included input from Snyder, Zummo, and Patrice Corneli. Development of the Fox Squirrel Citizen Science Project was conducted by Eiriksson, Eric Rickart, and Katrina Derieg. Corneli contributed statistical and mapping analyses, as a Museum volunteer. Learning sciences research data collection was conducted by Zummo. All authors had the chance to review the manuscript and provide edits before publication.