How can marine and coastal citizen science provide opportunities
for communities while contributing to scientific knowledge and
its application? Our research on marine and coastal CCS has
examined the unique challenges of working in this environment,
and developed insights that can be applied across many different
contexts.
Publications
Co-edited by Dr. John Cigliano and
our Faculty Director, Heidi Ballard,
Citizen Science for Coastal and Marine Conservation provides
a broad range of case studies exploring the utility and
feasibility, as well as limitations, of using marine and coastal
citizen science for conservation to leverage these resources and
address these tensions. The book also provides critical
considerations (i.e., which questions and systems are best suited
for citizen science), and presents recommendations for best
practices for successful marine and coastal citizen science
projects.
Meyer, R., Meyer, E., Sievanen, L., and Freitag, A. (2017). Using
citizen science to inform ocean and coastal resource management.
In J. A. Cigliano & H. L. Ballard (Eds.),
Citizen Science for Coastal and Marine Conservation.
Routledge (Taylor & Francis).
Scaling Up Effectiveness for Coastal Citizen Science
Over the course of their lives, people learn most of the science
they know outside of school, in informal educational contexts of
their own choosing. This project examined such “free-choice
learning” in the context of COASST — a successful
and long-running citizen science program spanning much of the
West Coast of North America. Researchers used quantitative and
qualitative approaches to advance understanding of how learning
and engagement work for COASST volunteers, and what that means of
the success of the program in terms of engagement and retention
of volunteers, and broader outcomes related to scientific
knowledge and its application. Researchers at the Center
collaborated with the University of Washington and Oregon State
University, with funding from NOAA Sea Grant.
We are looking forward to our next Global CCS Collabinar! Please
join us online or in-person for —
Building Connections:
Citizen Science and the Ocean
Wednesday, December 4th
from 3:00pm-5:00pm PST
Dr. Rachel Kelly from the Centre for Marine Socioecology,
Tasmania will present new marine citizen science research,
and we will discuss developing programs to support the UN Decade
of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. Please see below
and event
flyer for more details and RSVP.
The Center for Community and
Citizen Science (CCCS) and the Center for
Environmental Policy and Behavior (CEPB) seek an accomplished
quantitative social scientist to lead a project focused on human
use of coastal and ocean resources. The postdoctoral scholar will
conduct analyses of data generated by MPA Watch, an innovative
citizen science project in which volunteers collect data about
onshore and offshore human activities along the California Coast
(learn more at mpawatch.org). The position
requires high-level statistical methods in R, including spatial
models and the capacity to estimate models that include missing
data and data that is only partially observed across geography.
The role also involves working with state agencies and non-profit
partners involved in the adaptive management of California’s
network of marine protected areas.
Citizen and Community Science plays a special role in efforts to
conserve and manage California’s ocean and coastal resources.
There is a
huge diversity of projects and programming operating up and
down the coast, which engage the public in science and
monitoring, often with direct connections to policy and
management processes.
Co-edited by Dr. John Cigliano and
our Faculty Director, Heidi Ballard, this new volume provides a
broad range of case studies exploring the utility and
feasibility, as well as limitations, of using marine and coastal
citizen science for conservation to leverage these resources and
address these tensions.
Graduate student Jen Metes recently presented early insights from
her work on the COASST project in a poster at the National
Association of Environmental Education (NAAEE).
