Citizen science enlists members of the public to make and record useful observations, such as counting birds in their backyards. The large numbers of volunteers who participate in such projects collect valuable research data, which create an enormous body of scientific data on a vast geographic scale. In return, such projects aim to increase participants' connections to science, place, and nature. In this book, experts from a variety of disciplines share their experiences of creating and implementing successful citizen science projects, primarily those that use massive data sets gathered by ci ... More

Citizen science enlists members of the public to make and record useful observations, such as counting birds in their backyards. The large numbers of volunteers who participate in such projects collect valuable research data, which create an enormous body of scientific data on a vast geographic scale. In return, such projects aim to increase participants' connections to science, place, and nature. In this book, experts from a variety of disciplines share their experiences of creating and implementing successful citizen science projects, primarily those that use massive data sets gathered by citizen scientists to better understand the impact of environmental change. The book addresses basic aspects of how to conduct citizen science projects, as well as the nuances of creating a robust digital infrastructure and recruiting a large participant base. An overview of the types of environmental research approaches and techniques demonstrates how to make use of large data sets arising from citizen science projects. A final section focuses on citizen science's impacts and its broad connections to understanding the human dimensions and educational aspects of public participation. The book teaches teams of program developers and researchers how to cross the bridge from success at public engagement to using citizen science data to understand patterns and trends or to test hypotheses about how ecological processes respond to change at large geographic scales.