I was a panelist for a workshop on: Citizen Science & Policy: Monitoring to Drive Change which was hosted by an organization called ‘the Citizen Science Hub of Alberta representing the Stewards of Alberta’s Protected Areas Association (SAPAA).

Citizen Science is one of those terms I have been vaguely aware of but never spent too much time thinking of… and then I needed to think because of that ‘… on the panel thing‘.

1. Science is Great
2. Driving Change (and Free Lunches)
3. Reacting to Change
4. Fuzzy Citizen Science
5. Citizen [BLANK] Speaking Notes
6. Notes and References
7. Annex – Conference Description
8. Annex – Definition of Citizen Science

Science is Great

Science is one of the greatest human developments, up there with fire and coffee. It is a system that helps us move beyond cognitive biases, tribalism, and entrenched belief systems. Being a human developed system, it is also subject to corruption. Fashionable cognitive biases, emerging-tribes, and newly-entrenched beliefs all corrupt the process. By doing so, new orthodoxies can be proclaimed to be evidenced based.

Still, I have faith in the scientific process. It has survived, thrived, made human lives better/worse for the past 500 or so years and will continue to do so. Noting this larger historical context, let’s get back to the panel.

Driving Change (and Free Lunches)

The theme for the conference was, how is you(r) organization, project, etc. is Driving Change? The theme implies that all change is good. Here is an example of change: fossil fuels. Over the past two-hundred’ish years this technology has improved the human condition by multiple orders of magnitude. Billions of people are alive today who would have starved or not being born if not for fossil fuels.

Unfortunately, there is no free lunch. The science that gave us steam engines (to access deeper coal seams), leaded gas (to improve vehicle performance), and life-saving plastics (which also have a nasty habit of killing things) had their own pernicious effects. Electric vehicles, solar panels, and throwing soup on famous paintings [1] will save the planet… well until we discover there is no free lunch from these inventions/actions either.

Reacting to Change

We think of the natural world as being in balance, but a perpetual standoff is more apt. Predators evolve better ways to kill; the prey evolves better defenses. Plants, animals, bugs, and people move in and colonize areas where their natural ability overtakes the native things. Sometimes these are purely natural (evolution, drifting air currents carrying seeds, or plate tectonics creating/destroying land bridges). In other cases, they are man-made (first homo Sapien colonizers following the retreating ice sheets, subsequent European colonizers, subsequent-subsequent non-European colonization, etc.).

Okay, I am getting carried away with the big picture and back to SAPAA. The organization reacted to a pause in the Government of Alberta’s Volunteer Stewardship program. The conference wanted to know what role Citizen Science had in reacting to this change.

Fuzzy Citizen Science

There were two parts to my panel presentation, a video (linked below) and the panel. In preparing for both parts, I had a fuzzy notion of Citizen Science. My first impression was that I thought it was too restrictive.

Attending the conference, the presenters painted a broader picture, but the term still resonates with restriction. My contribution was to consider the Citizen first and foremost and then add the modifier. It could be Science, Stewardship, Safety, or something else.

Thus, I present my speaking notes of why I prefer ‘Citizen [BLANK]’ versus Citizen Science.

Citizen [BLANK] Speaking Notes

• When I hear the term, Citizen Science, my mind immediately goes to the second word – Science.
• The first word, Citizen, seems to have at best a supporting role.
• I would like to change the focus to the first word and make the second word variable.
• For example, Citizen Safety, Citizen Watch, or Citizen Stewardship.
• There is a lot packed into that word ‘Citizen’.
• It includes civic involvement, various literacy(ies), and civil society writ large.
• Let’s bring the discussion back to earth with just one usage: Citizen Stewardship.
• SAPAA is adopting Citizen Stewardship as its mantra but what exactly is it?
• It is the monitoring of the ‘Commons’ to ensure protected areas are not unduly consumed.
• Consumption can mean the obvious things, dumping, tree cutting, or OHV use.
• However, even walking, cycling, or paddling can over consume if not done responsibly.
• Under a different name, Citizen Stewardship can be traced back to a government of Alberta program.
• Volunteer Stewards visited WAERNAHR lands and reported on their health.
• SAPAA was created to support these Stewards, sort of a guild or union.
• The program was active for about 30 years, roughly 1987 until 2018.
• In 2018, changes to Alberta’s occupational, health, and safety legislation caused the government to spring into action and…
• … did nothing.
• After waiting a few years, SAPAA Reacted to this Change and the inaction.
• It updated its website. Now we have the best information on WAERNAHR sites.
• It is piloting an inspection process with the GoA.
• Results from the inspections lead to reports to the responsible Ministers as well as public sharing of information.
• In the future we hope to become leaders in best practice of stewardship, sharing data, and filling the [BLANK].
• In the video, I call these activities Sousveillance.
• I guess if pressed how SAPAA is driving change, the answer is enabling Citizen Sousveillance in protected areas.
• Huh, another [BLANK] filled in.
• Thank you.

Notes and References

1. In case you missed it: Van Gogh paintings vandalized at a London gallery after 2 activists were sentenced in similar attack.

Annex – Conference Description

Citizen Science & Policy: Monitoring to Driving Change is a workshop dedicated to supporting citizen science projects, creating a network of organizations and individuals committed to citizen science, and engaging the citizen science in Alberta. The workshop aims to collectively advance citizen science in Alberta. The workshop will also showcase the new Hub as a means to enhance resources and skills available to citizens, practitioners, and researchers in the citizen science community. Lunch is included and there will be networking opportunities during the session and at the end of the day.

Hosted by: the Alberta Citizen Science Community of Practice with support from the Office of the Chief Scientist, Environment and Protected Areas and City of Edmonton.

Annex – Definition of Citizen Science

From What is Citizen Science?, Alberta CitSci website:

Citizen Science is based on natural and social science methodologies. It involves members of the public in monitoring and scientific research. These projects can range from local to regional, and global scales, and participation can vary from data collection to other aspects of the scientific process, like the creation of research questions, data analysis, project evaluation, and reporting.

Involving members of the public in monitoring and scientific research has been expressed in a number of different ways. For simplicity we use the umbrella term Citizen Science, but encourage practitioners who identify with Community-Based Monitoring (CBM), Community Science, Public Participation in Scientific Research (PPSR), and other related endeavors to join. This Community of Practice will explore different aspects of working with the public in environmental monitoring and science that may be of interest to practitioners of a number of related fields.