The Center for Community and Citizen Science at the UC Davis School of Education is focused on the promise and potential of science outside of typical academic and professional silos. Our mission—to help scientists, communities, and other members of the public collaborate on science to address environmental problems as a part of civic life—recognizes the inspiring possibilities that emerge when we dismantle assumptions about who can (and can’t) do real science, and think creatively about what collaboration can look like.

Since its establishment in 2016, our Center has served as a hub for research and programming in community and citizen science. Our research is multidisciplinary, and our products and impacts are driven by the priorities of our partners. We believe in opening science up to participation and collaboration. Realizing that vision will take many different forms of innovation and change across our four focus areas.

Professional science must become more collaborative, accessible, and responsive. Education must engage learners in authentic scientific experiences relating to real-world problems, from local to global. Communities need resources, support, and capacity to lead the research that matters most to them. Protecting the environment requires more diverse perspectives and knowledge sources, and built-in collaboration to grow a robust sense of shared stewardship. Permeating our work across all of these impact areas is the urgent priority of attending to diversity, equity and inclusion.

What is Community and Citizen Science?

Community and citizen science (CCS) engages members of the public to collaborate with professional scientists to conduct research-based investigations, engage in monitoring activities, collect data and interpret results, and produce new knowledge used for natural resource management or basic research. This includes community science, which is community-driven research or monitoring in partnership with scientists.

In CCS, people who do not self-identify as professional scientists actively participate in scientific research and monitoring. There are many different practices and approaches, stemming from academic traditions such as citizen science, participatory action research, and community-based participatory monitoring. We include both citizen science and community science to honor the history and distinct approaches of each. We strive to understand the benefits of CCS for learning, communities, and environmental management through our research, while also supporting the scientists and practitioners who bring open hearts and creative spirits to the endeavor.

Community and Citizen Science in support of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access

CCS has the potential to reshape the power dynamics of traditional science. A central part of our mission is to realize that potential through thoughtful design, and to push the boundaries of who can participate in, take ownership of, and benefit from science. We are grateful for the opportunity to partner with and learn from communities that have a real stake in the outcomes of environmental research, including indigenous groups, under-resourced students and schools, and incarcerated people. Such partnerships are all the more essential when we consider the historic and ongoing injustices that have marginalized these groups, and the invaluable perspectives, skills and knowledge that they bring to our collaboration. Our impact is not just the scale of our work, but the ways in which it upholds these values in its practice and design.