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Citizen Scientists and Monarch Butterflies
Posted by on June 25, 2013 at 11:48 AM EST
Karen Oberhauser is being honored as a Champion of Change for her dedication to increasing public engagement in science and science literacy.
When I think of citizen science, I think of points of enlightenment spreading over a map, literally filling it with new knowledge. Each point represents a person who is making an important contribution to science, who is learning a lot, and who is likely to be engaged in conserving the phenomenon they’re studying.
I founded and direct the Monarch Larva Monitoring Project (MLMP, www.mlmp.org), one of several citizen science projects focused on monarch butterflies. This 16-year-old project engages participants in collecting data that help us document monarch distribution and abundance in North America. The intense efforts of MLMP volunteers exemplify a term coined by Ralph Hames, who described volunteers in the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Birds in Forested Landscapes project as “super citizen scientists.” MLMP volunteers assess monarch density for up to 15 weeks per year (or more in the southern US) using a protocol that can take more than an hour per week. They observe up to several hundred monarch host plants (milkweeds), often collect eggs and caterpillars to rear for a parasite study, and record data on flowering plants at their site. While it’s an honor to know that hundreds of people are donating so much time to this work, it brings with it great responsibility. I am keenly aware of the incredible value of these “donated data”, and the hours contributed by citizen scientists, often in lovely settings, but often too in hot weather, sometimes surrounded by mosquitoes, wood ticks, or poison ivy. My responsibility to MLMP volunteers is to help ensure that the scientific, educational, and conservation potential of their data is realized.
From a scientific perspective, citizen science provides an efficient way to increase the geographic scale of data collection, while at the same time providing fine-scale data, often literally from people’s back yards. Because citizen science projects often involve sampling locations across a wide range of environmental variation, they can answer questions that can’t be addressed by traditional university or public-agency research groups. And their data are being used. In a preliminary analysis of the published literature on monarch butterflies, my colleague Leslie Ries at the University of Maryland found that almost 100% of the papers published since 1990 on monarch population dynamics, 50% of the papers on monarch migration and movement, and 10% of the papers on natural enemies used citizen science data. One of those natural enemies papers was based on questions asked by MLMP volunteer Ilse Gebhard in Michigan, who, along with fellow volunteers (and paper co-authors) Charlie Cameron in North Carolina and Suzanne Oberhauser in Wisconsin, has raised thousands of monarch caterpillars to document parasitism by a particularly interesting parasitoid fly named Lespisia archippivora. That’s the power of citizen science.
We know that citizen science has major educational benefits. Citizen scientists increase their understanding of science concepts, their engagement and interest in research, and their science-related skills. My University of Minnesota Extension colleagues and I are working on a project called Driven to Discover, using citizen science programs focused on birds and monarchs as springboards for youth research. Through Driven to Discover, adult leaders and youth teams from Minnesota, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Ohio are engaged in exciting research, helping us build a model that will lead the field of citizen science in exciting new directions. Driven to Discover participant Josh Proehl built on his work on the MLMP and another monarch citizen science project (Project Monarch Health) to conduct independent research on a monarch disease called Ophryocystis elecktrochirra, or OE for short. This was the summer after he was in 5th grade, and his main tools were a forceps, scotch tape, and a microscope that his teacher Laura Molenaar borrowed from the local High School in New London, Minnesota. The next summer, he attended an international meeting of monarch biologists and citizen scientists, where I introduced him to the world’s expert on OE and director of Project Monarch Health, Dr. Sonia Altizer from the University of Georgia. Sonia and Josh talked as colleagues about the effects and transmission of this disease. The next summer, Josh enlisted his little sister Jenna in his research, and they continued to study OE. That’s the power of citizen science.
I’ve called citizen scientists an “army for conservation” for many reasons; they collect data with conservation applications; they often become stewards for local habitats; and they reach out to others about the importance of conservation. It’s imperative that citizen science doesn’t become just another tool for documenting the demise of the natural world. It can be profoundly depressing to document how bird, butterfly, and native plant populations are declining in the face of human impacts. But, only by understanding these changes and their causes do we have any chance of addressing them. On large scales, we use citizen science data to make decisions about what habitats to protect and how to best restore habitats that support biodiversity. Citizen scientists, whose work has led to strong connections with the natural world, urge our elected leaders to protect land, reduce greenhouse gas emissions that are leading to a changing climate, and address the onslaught of invasive species that are out-competing, consuming, and causing diseases in native species. On smaller, but extremely important scales, citizen scientists work to preserve monarchs and their habitat; MLMP volunteers have changed the location of planned parking lots that would destroy the milkweed patch they’ve been studying, planted host plants for monarchs in their gardens and between their farm fields, and created natural habitat in locations ranging from schoolyards to corporate centers to local parks.
Aldo Leopold once said: “One of the penalties of an ecological education is that one lives alone in a world of wounds. Much of the damage inflicted on land is quite invisible to laymen.” Citizen science not only makes these wounds visible to many more people, but it can help to heal them. That is the power of citizen science.
Karen Oberhauser is a Professor in the Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology at the University of Minnesota
Learn more about ServiceCSI: NY - Citizen Science Investigations in New York City
Posted by on June 25, 2013 at 11:42 AM EST
John Rowden is being honored as a Champion of Change for his dedication to increasing public engagement in science and science literacy.
"Mister, I hate birds." With those words, my relationship with Stacy began. Stacy was a student at a Bronx satellite high school that offers the opportunity for students who have not succeeded in other schools to get a diploma. From her seen-it-all attitude and the way she fixed me with an appraising look as she walked into our first session, it was clear that Stacy had one thing on her mind: getting to graduation, and I surmised that selling her on a citizen science project about birds wasn’t going to be an easy job.
My work with Stacy and her classmates was part of my Toyota TogetherGreen conservation leadership fellowship from the National Audubon Society. I had been chosen with others from around the country to complete conservation action projects in our communities. One of the stated goals of the program is to engage diverse audiences in conservation, and the focus of my project was to expand the reach of New York City Audubon’s citizen science program, both geographically and demographically. So I was spending one day a week in the Bronx with this group of students who came in not knowing or caring anything about the subject. I’ve been studying birds almost as long as some of these students had been alive, and wondered whether I could get them to feel my passion for birds and science.
Citizen science offers a unique opportunity to involve people in real scientific research and can have enormous benefits: greatly expanding the ability of scientists to collect data, creating a more scientifically literate population, and allowing people to better understand their role in protecting nature. During my fellowship I worked with the students to teach them bird identification, survey techniques, and rigorous data collection. Although our monitoring area along the Bronx River included a scrap metal yard and several combined sewer outflow pipes, our monitoring excursions offered a surprising respite from the urban surroundings. We saw Brant geese hanging south before their journey to the Arctic, belted kingfishers flying back and forth across the river staking out territories, and flycatchers making their acrobatic sorties in search of insects. The students began to appreciate that birds were more than just pigeons they encountered scraping by in the city. And the data they contributed gave us valuable insight into bird populations in an area that was under-represented in our database.
By June the students were anxious to finish the year and get on to graduation. When I checked in with Stacy the last week (as I did every week) about how she felt about birds, she said she thought they were “kind of cool.” I didn't make the students into a bunch of avid birders but I do believe they'll think a little differently about their relationship to science, appreciate birds a little more, and know that they made a difference. Citizen science can do that.
I recently moved from NYC Audubon to National Audubon where I manage the national Toyota TogetherGreen grants program and evaluation of conservation results. Citizen science is a key component of Audubon’s efforts to impact conservation across the country and I continue to champion its use as a tool for positive change in communities.
John Rowden is the Toyota TogetherGreen research and grants manager for the National Audubon Society.
Learn more about ServiceBioCurious – a Hackerspace for Biology!
Posted by on June 25, 2013 at 11:37 AM EST
Eri Gentry is being honored as a Champion of Change for her dedication to increasing public engagement in science and science literacy.
One of the biggest challenges I’ve faced is how to become involved in science as a non-scientist. When I was little, I wanted to be a scientist. The evidence? A self-portrait done by a seven year-old me in an array of colored pencil: me in a lab coat and enormous, round glasses, with the word SCIENTIST, in deliberate seven year-old caps, underneath.
When I was 11, officially middle-school age, I wanted to be a stockbroker, a writer, an inventor, and an actress. Oh yeah, a scientist, too. I grew up in what I call a “small, poor, prison town in the middle of the desert.” It’s the kind of place that doesn’t always put opportunities in front of you, but it’s also the kind of place that lets you run wild with dreams.
In college, I remember choosing Economics over Biology as a major because “I wanted to be social.” Along the way, I had gotten the now funny impression that scientists worked alone, in dark places, from the only scientist I’d met in my life – a high school Physics teacher who started the first class by telling us she was there to teach underprivileged kids.
Shortly after entering the working world, where I no longer had access to classes, labs, or professors, I realized I wanted to do science, not finance. The problem was that there was essentially no way for me to do that. I eventually found a small, non-profit biotech lab, SENS, that took me in as a volunteer. At SENS, scientists were working around the clock with a passion and intensity I had never before seen to cure diseases of aging – to save people’s lives. I may not have known how I could help, but I knew this was the place I wanted to be. The place where I was fulfilled.
Through volunteering, I ended up cofounding a non-profit cancer research lab, Livly, with the Director of Research at SENS, after a colleague of ours died from esophageal cancer, unable to even try an experimental treatment in the states. We worked on improving the metrics around the experimental treatment he might have gotten in the only place we could afford: our Mountain View, CA garage, an amalgam of self-built tools and equipment bought on eBay and scavenged at big pharma liquidation sales.
Not content with working alone in our garage, I started holding DIYbio-themed meetups at my house in 2009, which anyone with any interest whatsoever in science could attend. Chemists, artist, software developers, tech entrepreneurs, and even some original Homebrew Computer Club members attended the meetups, and they quickly grew out of our house and into the local hackerspace, Hacker Dojo, which allowed community members to hold events in their large space.
Talking to the folks who attended my meetups, I found that they, too, had discovered a passion for science later in life and didn’t know how to get pursue it without giving up their jobs and/or negatively impacting their families. Their needs were almost always the same: they needed access to equipment, a place to work, more education, and people. When I thought of how to fill their needs, Hacker Dojo came to mind, a place people congregated to work, to socialize, to “meet cofounders of companies they didn’t even know they wanted to start,” as Founding Director, David Weekly puts it.
A hackerspace devoted to biology had never been attempted before, but wasn’t that likely because people stopped getting exposed to science outside of academia? What if the former could help fix the latter, I wondered. The climate is right: tools are inexpensive (enough), people are interested in DIY science, and a modification of the hackerspace model would work to fill people’s needs. It all made sense, and it felt like a mission that had to be accomplished, so I joined forces with five “biohacker” friends to start BioCurious, the world’s first hackerspace for biology.
We used the then brand-new Kickstarter crowdfunding platform to raise money and, with hundreds of backers from around the world, and hundreds more meetup members, we opened a 2600 square foot laboratory in Sunnyvale, CA that is open 7 days a week and lets anyone, at any level join for $100 a month. We have biotech classes, community projects, public science safety classes, glowing algae, scrappy entrepreneurs, and six year-old geneticists. BioCurious is completely volunteer-run and member supported. Many said it wouldn’t work. It doesn’t simply work – it thrives. Innovative strategies for science are ideated and attempted every day, and it wouldn’t be possible without a community lab to serve as stepping-stone between academia and home life. We may be the first hackerspace for biology, but that’s just the beginning. People write to BioCurious from around the globe asking for advice on how to start their own biohackerspaces. It makes me wonder, what would the world look like with a community lab in every neighborhood?
Eri Gentry is the Founding President of BioCurious and past CEO of Livly.
Learn more about ServiceTarget Asteroids! Citizen Science: Tracking Near-Earth Asteroids for Science and Humanity
Posted by on June 25, 2013 at 11:23 AM EST
Dolores Hill is being honored as a Champion of Change for her dedication to increasing public engagement in science and science literacy.
I am honored to be selected a White House Citizen Science Champion of Change to represent Target Asteroids!, a decade long program that expands the role of citizen scientists in cutting edge asteroid research and serves as a model for other scientist-citizen scientist collaborations. It is our vision that Target Asteroids!, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission citizen science program, will encourage more amateur astronomers to become citizen scientists to track near-Earth asteroids and support spacecraft missions to asteroids with their observations.
Target Asteroids! builds on the tremendous foundations of amateur astronomy – throughout history, amateur and professional astronomers have made exciting discoveries, collaborated to learn more about the cosmos, and teamed up to provide details about the Solar System. This project puts citizen scientists front and center in the efforts to learn more about asteroids and protect our planet. Citizen scientists provide valuable data to help planetary scientists characterize near-Earth asteroids and understand the process by which Main Belt asteroids may become near-Earth asteroids; essential steps to ascertaining the risk of impact with Earth that may affect the world’s inhabitants. I was inspired to establish a “Target Asteroids! list by the historical contributions of amateur astronomers and my own citizen science experiences.
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission, led by Dante Lauretta (University of Arizona), is our country’s first asteroid sample return mission. It will launch in 2016, rendezvous with near-Earth asteroid (101955) Bennu in 2018 and return a sample to Earth in 2023. OSIRIS-REx is an acronym for Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security-Regolith Explorer. OSIRIS-REx and its Target Asteroids! citizen science embody a perfect melding of astronomical asteroid science and hands-on meteoritics that seeks to understand our origins, evolution of the Solar System, ground truth between Earth-based telescope observations and laboratory studies, and secure the future of humanity by examination of orbital dynamics, physical properties, and composition of a potentially hazardous asteroid. It will be another important step toward understanding the more than 625,000 known asteroids especially near-Earth asteroids. And amateur astronomer citizen scientists can be a part of it!
Target Asteroids! co-lead and OSIRIS-REx mission asteroid astronomer, Carl Hergenrother, selects asteroids for the Target Asteroids! list that are mostly dark carbon-rich near-Earth asteroids easily accessible by sample return spacecraft or are analogs to Bennu. Amateur astronomer citizen scientists make valuable observations whenever they are able and submit them via the internet. They have the expertise and instrumentation to provide images, astrometric (position), and photometric (brightness) data for asteroids. They have a broad geographical distribution and are able to observe more often than professional astronomers. Many observations combined over a wide range of asteroid orbital positions allow scientists to increase knowledge of the near-Earth asteroid population overall and Bennu, specifically.
Even in its first year, Target Asteroids! citizen science program has already proven to be a highly successful collaboration. We far exceeded our expectations with 138 participants from beginners to expert observers from 26 countries and 25 states who have submitted 82 observations of 17 NEAs in the first year of this decade long program. In addition, 9 Target Asteroids! partners bring special expertise to support the program and leverage both NASA and private resources. OSIRIS-REx citizen science collaboration is one step in the right direction toward STEM-related activities and learning for citizens both in and out of school; yet another way that OSIRIS-REx Secures Our Future. Scientific inquiry and the threat of asteroid impact know no geographical boundaries. The benefits of the Target Asteroids! citizen science program extend to all of humanity, now, and in the future.
Happily, I have enjoyed the support of many in my scientific endeavors: from my first look through a telescope to years of laboratory research on meteorites. My message to scientists is: recall your early days when someone gave you the opportunity to participate in your first science project. It was exhilarating; right? You might be coaching a scientist-in-training or helping a member of the public understand how science is conducted. Citizen scientists are excited to contribute to your program, interact with and learn from you. To citizen scientists: you are valued, enthusiastic and dedicated partners whose observations and data enable science to progress. You are one important part of the whole community of science; together we can be more than the sum of the parts.
Dolores Hill is a Meteoriticist and Co-Lead of Target Asteroids!.
Learn more about ServiceThe Stories Plants Can Tell: NEON’s Project BudBurst
Posted by on June 25, 2013 at 11:18 AM EST
Sandra Henderson is being honored as a Champion of Change for her dedication to increasing public engagement in science and science literacy.
Every plant has a story to tell. At my home in Erie, Colorado, I monitor a variety of plants including Common lilac, Quaking aspen, and Red columbine. Each morning feels like a little treasure hunt as I make my rounds to check out the plants! As one of the founders of NEON’s Project Budburst, I was able to combine my longtime experience in climate change education with my passion for plants. I am honored to accept this “Champion of Change” recognition on behalf of the Project BudBurst community and the legion of citizen scientists who are making a difference.
Project BudBurst was founded on the premise that every plant has a story to tell about our changing climates. We can empower people to better understand their surrounding ecosystems by actively engaging them in observing plants. Why are plants so important in understanding changing climates? Because plants are everywhere we live and they respond in predictable ways to changes in their environment -- variations in temperature, precipitation, and day length. If we take the time to observe them as “scientists,” we can learn a lot, not only about plants, but also about how the world around us works. Imagine if every person in the US ‘adopted a plant’ and reported the timing of leafing, flowering and fruiting on the Project BudBurst web site.
As the Director of Citizen Science at the NSF-funded National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON), I work with scientists, engineers, and educators who are very excited about continental-scale ecological data. NEON will provide 30 years of data on the effects of climate change, land-use change, and invasive species on natural resources and biodiversity. Project BudBurst participants complement the work done at NEON by encouraging people to go outside and make simple observations of plants; we essentially engage them as ‘human sensors.’ This continental-scale network of human sensors is helping to advance the frontiers of ecological science as well as increasing awareness of ecological processes and science in general.
It really does take a village to create and implement a national citizen science program. Making a continental-scale program relevant at the local level requires partnerships and collaborations with schools, universities, and other educational organizations. Project BudBurst has been working with staff and volunteers from agencies such as the US Fish and Wildlife Refuge System, the National Park Service, and botanic gardens, including the US Botanic Garden and the Chicago Botanic Garden. We are actively engaged in expanding our partner network to include museums and science centers. We are partners in the National Geographic Society’s FieldScope. To expand our participant base, we are now partnering with BioTracker to create a mobile app game called Floracaching – based on the popular geocaching activity but using plants as the ‘cache.’
One of the most exciting results of this program is that Project BudBurst data are being used by scientists! My friend and colleague, Kayri Havens-Young of the Chicago Botanic Garden, compared Project BudBurst data for 15 plants species to historical plant data from Chicago. Seven of the plant species had a first flower earlier in one or more of the last three years than had been seen during 1950-1994. In some cases, the first flower was several weeks earlier. These species included forsythia, spiderwort, dogtooth violet, red maple, may apple, common lilac, and black locust. Plants really do have a story to tell us about changes in the environment. With your help, we can collect more plant stories to better understand our changing environment.
Visit budburst.org to learn how to participate or become a partner.
Sandra Henderson is the Director of Citizen Science at the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON).
Learn more about ServiceConnecting People to Nature
Posted by on June 25, 2013 at 11:13 AM EST
Lee Ann Rodríguez is being honored as a Champion of Change for her dedication to increasing public engagement in science and science literacy.
I was introduced to the concept of citizen science around five years ago, after being drawn into an NSF-funded project of my organization. Looking back to that moment, and although I was not familiar with this concept at the time, I was captivated by the opportunity to be part of something so unique that could have a meaningful impact on individuals of all walks of life.
Our Citizen Science project aimed at engaging individuals as participants in research that would expand our knowledge of the ecological inventory and interactions within our Hacienda La Esperanza Nature Reserve. We were able to complete that goal by the end of the project, but what was really fulfilling was that we achieved so much more than that: we created a group of citizens brought together by science and by an extraordinary sense of community.
Children as young as nine joined seniors as ripe as ninety-two in learning and sharing their knowledge about nature and the services it provides. Students and school dropouts, working professionals and unemployed from diverse disciplines, they all chose to be part of a movement presenting an inclusive alternative to doing science.
Many applied their citizen science experience to academic and career choices, and others to community issues or everyday life situations. But what’s really amazing is that most came back, time after time to keep the movement alive, and that many are still active in our organization and in their communities through volunteerism, leadership, and collaborations.
More than a tool of informal science education, citizen science has proven to be a system where individuals can connect to others and to nature through science. I am honored to be a White House Champion of Change, and I am so proud to work hand-in-hand with my organization’s staff and citizen scientists to make it all happen.
Lee Ann Rodríguez is Para la Naturaleza’s Development Manager. Her organization is the new unit of the Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico, a non-profit dedicated to land conservation in the islands of Puerto Rico.
Lee Ann Rodríguez is the DBAc in Resource Development Manager at the Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico.
Learn more about ServiceCitizen Science – Bringing the Excitement of Scientific Discovery to All
Posted by on June 25, 2013 at 11:10 AM EST
Jason Osborne is being honored as a Champion of Change for his dedication to increasing public engagement in science and science literacy.
It was late Friday morning when I received a phone call from the Executive Office of the President, Office of Science and Technology Policy. I will never forget how surreal it was when a woman on the other end said “Congratulations, on behalf of The White House you have been chosen as a Citizen Science Champion of Change.” My heart began to pound as I replied, “I can’t believe this is happening, I don’t know what to say… thank you so much.” What an amazing country we live in, to be an average citizen and recognized by The White House for my contribution to citizen science.
I was raised on a farm in south central Pennsylvania where rolling hills are carpeted with crops, and livestock is dispersed throughout the countryside. It wasn’t hard to let your mind wander. I was always curious and remember, as a child, sitting along a creek bank cracking open slabs of slate to unveil earths past. Amazed, I would study the inclusions of fossil shell casts riddled along the surface of the rock face. Later in life I took this passion for discovery to a whole new level.
In February 2010, along with Aaron Alford, I co-founded Paleo Quest, a non-profit citizen science service and research organization whose mission is to advance the sciences of paleontology and geology through research, exploration and science education. Paleo Quest is an original, collaborative platform that brings together professional-amateurs, professionals and citizen scientists in a variety of disciplines, providing a greenhouse for scientific innovation. The organization’s novel approach to science has helped Paleo Quest members identify and answer unique scientific and methodological questions in paleontology and stratigraphy.
Science education in America is thirsting for novel approaches that increase science literacy. Citizen science projects offer the opportunity for participants to become explorers and help unlock Earth’s mysteries. Aaron and I have designed several citizen science programs, including SharkFinder™. True to its name, SharkFinder™ is aimed at finding fossil elasmobranch (shark, skates and ray) remains in the Atlantic Coastal Plain of the United States. To date, elasmobranches have been poorly characterized, despite the fact that shark fossils from in the Atlantic Coastal Plain region have been a favorite of collectors and paleontologists for more than a century. SharkFinder™ allows classrooms and citizen scientists to search through highly concentrated fossil-bearing media to find and report elasmobranch fossils. In return, participants who make significant finds are acknowledged in professional publications and may have the opportunity to name new species.
America was built on discovery and innovation. Citizen Science can play a key role, whether it’s helping to find a cure for a disease, understanding human DNA, the microbes within us, the universe around us, or making fossil discoveries that could help us understand evolution, species diversity and climate change.
Unleash the scientist within you, venture into the world of discovery, and you never know…YOU could be recognized for your contribution.
Jason Osborne is the President and Co-Founder of Paleo Quest.
Learn more about ServiceSoldiers2Scientists and Beyond...
Posted by on June 25, 2013 at 11:08 AM EST
Michael P. Cohn is being honored as a Champion of Change for his dedication to increasing public engagement in science and science literacy.
Researchers have noted that, “a focus on healthy lifestyle behaviors that can facilitate a transition back into civilian life” is often missing from many treatment approaches for mental illness, particularly post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other deployment-related set-backs. Furthermore, fear of stigma associated with asking for help may keep many veterans from seeking the care they need for the negative effects caused by stress, isolation, and lack of structure associated with returning home from deployment. Therapeutic recreation therapy may provide solutions for both of these problems as well as open up enormous opportunities in many others.
Therapeutic recreation programs are uniquely suited to provide veterans treatment, while also helping individuals “recover basic motor functioning and reasoning abilities, build confidence, and socialize effectively to enable greater independence” (US Department of Veterans Affairs, 2009). For instance, results from a pilot study of therapeutic fly fishing for veterans with PTSD were promising, and demonstrated the utility of the program in: 1) reducing “re-experiencing” of traumatic events; 2) reducing psychological numbing and increasing social connectedness; and 3) calming hyper-arousal through physical activity and peaceful surroundings (Dustin et al., 2011).
I, personally, have experienced the healing and restorative power of a day spent in the wilderness. After returning home from a yearlong stint in Afghanistan, I experienced some of the difficulties of re-integration described by many veterans when they transition back to life after deployment. During this time, I began to re-engage with my childhood hobbies of fishing and birding. I found myself invigorated by my outdoor experiences, with a renewed sense of focus and purpose. The more I engaged in the activity, the more I was able to get out of it, the more I knew what I didn't know but wanted to. I soon wanted to make more of a commitment, wanting, not necessarily more meaning from the activities, but more reason and purpose to share it with others. This led me to make contact and then begin to work with the many platforms and projects sponsored by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, that work to develop and integrate information and mobile technologies to track birds in their natural habitats.
In working with Cornell, I became aware of the burgeoning field of Citizen Science. Cornell prioritizes educating participants and providing them with easy to use, accessible, web-based tools to track ecological data. Research teams based in government organizations, private firms, or educational institutions stand to gain much from the involvement of citizen scientists, due to the low costs and minimal training required to implement wide-spread ecological tracking programs.
As I have learned more about Citizen Science, I have become convinced of the potential for the field to contribute to the engagement and treatment of returning veterans. By combining outdoor recreation with scientifically oriented, purpose-driven activities (like, for example, bird tracking), veterans can enjoy the benefits of therapeutic recreation, while also directly contributing to the conservation, rehabilitation, and advancement of American wildlife and wild spaces. In this way, veterans can continue their service to the country by way of Citizen Science. Researchers and others that are not, or cannot be in the field are nevertheless empowered by the range of data collected and are able to produce findings that would not be possible without the effort of Citizen Scientists and the mobile technologies, which bring them together and demonstrate the singular purpose.
The vision of Soldiers2Scientists, I believe, makes a pretty compelling case for Veterans and Wounded Warriors to team with the Department of Interior and National Park Service, along with multiple local, state, and national agencies, and together with Cornell's Ornithology Lab, The American Kestrel Project, Audubon and many others, across the country and beyond, to identify important scientific and conservation requirements which can then be provided as a citizen science project to returning soldiers, as a way to decompress in the Great American Outdoors, while at the same time, conducting meaningful work that serves to protect and preserve our country’s resources.
Taken together with the growing army of citizen scientist volunteers across the country, and with the accessibility, applicability, and mobility of many citizen science-related technologies, I think we are just beginning to understand the scope of the potential and socio-historical implications for the democratization of scientific inquiry and research!
Michael P. Cohn is the Founder of Soldiers2Scientists.
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