Jeffrey Cohn’s article, “Citizen Science: Can Volunteers Do Real Research?,” demonstrates the growing importance of citizen scientists in scientific projects and studies and also provides us with examples of its success in several projects such as Karen Oberhauser’s project that utilized citizen scientists to collect data on butterflies and the MEGA-Transect Project that allowed citizen scientists to collect data on plants, animals, pH levels of water systems and air and water pollution. Citizen scientists, as defined in the article, are “volunteers who participate as field assistants in scientific studies” (193) and are not necessarily scientists. Many are actually amateurs who are concerned about the world around them and want to participate in something that could potentially have an impact on the world around them. I think it is great that regular people have taken advantage of opportunities to deepen their learning of science and participate in activities that could make great contributions to science.

The article states how collaborating with citizen scientists has grown and has made a great impact. Using citizen scientists saves research groups the money of paying consultants and experts. These “scientists” are able to gather and collect data that could not be obtained any other way.  Moreover, information collected from volunteers can come from a broader range, geographically speaking, and can be collected over a longer period of time than traditional research could. The data that they collect help scientists to have a wealth of data from which to examine and analyze. For example, in the MEGA-Transect Project, researchers were able to use the data collected by citizen scientists to develop a computer model that predicts where Bicknell’s thrush breeds, thereby letting planners know where to allow development or how the change in climate affects these birds.  I think this is one of the amazing things about citizen science, the ability of a group of people that may not normally be involved in the science field coming together to collect data that scientists can use in  their studies, which can eventually make a difference for the livelihood of plants and animals in our natural world.

I think it was interesting to learn about some minor drawbacks of citizen science, especially since we tend to focus on all the positive aspects of this type of learning and engagement. Scientists who use citizen scientists in their projects have to think about their research projects slightly differently. They must design and make research projects that take into account the people who are participating in them. They have to specific protocols that take citizen scientists into account and they must measure the reliability of the information collected by them. These protocols may limit what the citizen scientists can do or identify and document easily recognizable plants or animals. On one NPS project with birds, scientists admit to spending more time on planning and making protocols and training citizen scientists than they would normally use with paid consultants.  Sometimes citizen science projects require special training in using sophisticated technology or equipment and require scientists to teach about particular techniques and methods that will help in collecting data.

I liked the article addressed a concern I had about citizen science: the accuracy and reliability of the information collect and gathered by citizen scientists. It actually is possible for people to collect accurate data as long as they are told what to do and how to do it. Scientists have the responsibility to teach citizen scientists the proper method to collect data to ensure that it is not too vague and also  the responsibility to go out and measure the reliability of the data that is collected for them. In many cases, citizen scientists are paired with trained staff to ensure that data collected will be as accurate and reliable as possible. I thought it was great to read that in general the data collected by citizen scientists are good. For example, in David Delaney’s comparison of identifications of crabs between himself and volunteers, he found that the volunteers almost always identified them right, and that even seventh graders got it right 95% of the time and third graders got it right 80% of the time. I thought that it was great that these facts, at least in this particular study, showed that the data collected by volunteers is accurate. I would hope that the data used in other studies is just as accurate and reliable so that scientists will be able to make the right conclusions.

I think that it is great that people are getting involved in science in anyway they can. I think one of the pluses with citizen science projects is that the people involved in them can choose which project to become involved in. I like how they can make their hobbies, such as bird watching, into something that will be helpful for scientists in their projects and research. I also like that participating in citizen science projects provides a two way street to learning. Not only are people contributing to a specific area of science, but they also have an opportunity to learn more about the particular area of science involved in the activity, whether it be birds, butterflies, frogs and so forth. Scientists also have the ability to teach citizens procedures and methods that will be helpful to citizen scientists collecting data and from that data, scientists, in turn, learn about a particular plant, animal or environment.

Citizen science is still a growing area and scientists are making projects and studies that include citizen scientists as time goes on. Hopefully, there will be more opportunities made available for all different people with all different interests. With that, hopefully many of us will take advantage of them and be able to deepen our understanding of science.