CitSci.org: Cyber-infrastructure support for grassroots conservation, citizen science, and...
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Transcript of CitSci.org: Cyber-infrastructure support for grassroots conservation, citizen science, and...
CitSci.org:Cyber-infrastructure support for grassroots
conservation, citizen science, and community-based monitoring
Greg Newman1, Alycia Crall2, Russell Scarpino1, Jim Graham3, and Brian Fauver1
1Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University2University of Wisconsin, Madison and Rutgers University
3Department of Geosciences, Oregon State University
September 11, 2012
2
basic tenets
Conference on PPSR • August 4-5, 2012
“Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand”
~ Chinese Proverb
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basic tenets
Conference on PPSR • August 4-5, 2012
“Learn from the masses, and then teach them”
~ Mao Tse-Tung
work with them
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basic tenets
Conference on PPSR • August 4-5, 2012
“The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery”
~ Mark van Doran
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keys to success
Conference on PPSR • August 4-5, 2012
Volunteers, scientists, and mavens!
project coordinators!
volunteers! scientists
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what’s needed
Conference on PPSR • August 4-5, 2012
“a data management system flexible enough to support the formation of new PPSR projects; a system where anyone, anywhere can create new projects themselves”
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citsci.org
Conference on PPSR • August 4-5, 2012
We developed a flexible enterprise-level system (www.citsci.org) to facilitate the creation of new PPSR projects, encourage cross-project synergy, and support project data management needs
• website platform supporting citizen science• bottom-up & top-down approaches• started in 2008
• support full spectrum of PPSR needs
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Manage Members
Create Projects
Build Data Sheets
Collect Data
Analyze Data
Interpret DataGet Feedback
Share Results
www.citsci.org
Conference on PPSR • August 4-5, 2012
Begin with the end in mind
Manage Roles
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Market Project Ask
Questions
Manage Members
ID MethodsID Protocols ID Scientists Develop
TrainingsBuild Data Sheets
Buy Burritos!
Begin with the end in mind Order
SuppliesCollect Data
Analyze Data
SummarizeVisualize
Interpret Data
Write Metadata
Give Surveys
Share Results
• website platform supporting citizen science• bottom-up & top-down approaches• started in 2008
• support full spectrum of PPSR needs
Conference on PPSR • August 4-5, 2012
Train Members
Do QA/QC
Create Graphs
Run Statistics
Summative Evaluation Get Feedback
Formative EvaluationCreate Projects
Create Logic Model
www.citsci.org
create projects
14Conference on PPSR • August 4-5, 2012
What are your goals, objectives, and
research questions?
What do you want your members to do? Enter data?
See photos? Provide feedback? Perform analyses?
customize project pages
16Conference on PPSR • August 4-5, 2012
Manage Members
Manage Tabs
Show/Hide Make ActiveChange Position
serve as gatekeepers
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Inbox - Pending Requests
Send Email
Post LinksPost Trainings
create datasheets
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Add Species
Add Attributes
Add Site Characteristics
Conference on PPSR • August 4-5, 2012
Manage Custom Data Sheets
(Create, Edit, Print)
specify attributes
• growing, yet vetted attributes• species attributes
• height, weight, sex, percent cover, etc.• site characteristics
• abiotic– elevation, slope, aspect, percent nitrogen, percent sand etc.
• biotic– percent litter, percent lichen, etc.
• standardized, interoperable, and flexible
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“if you want to measure it, you can measure it... ...but be sure someone else is not already measuring it!"
Conference on PPSR • August 4-5, 2012
analyze data
20Conference on PPSR • August 4-5, 2012
Dependent Variable (y) Independent Variable
(x)
analyze data
• today• automated charts (e.g., species composition)
• tomorrow• select “response variable” and plot against time• select x and y variables and analyze them• create groups and compare them
• future• develop open APIs, enable R Scripts, etc.• animate and visualize
21Conference on PPSR • August 4-5, 2012
get feedback
• program evaluation• formative and summative possibilities• create your own evaluations to give to your
participants
• coming soon• integrate vetted Cornell Lab DEVISE project
instruments to evaluate participant scientific and environmental literacy
23Conference on PPSR • August 4-5, 2012
outcomes
• 40+ projects• some 7000+ Observations• report to state herpetologist• peer-reviewed publications• hundreds of participants• scalable
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Invasive bullfrog outcompeting
native: Plains SpadefootWoodhouse Toad
Conference on PPSR • August 4-5, 2012
“stony’s story”
• front range pika project• 59 participants• 117 observations• standardized protocol
• volunteers collect data about American pika (Ochotona princeps) and their habitat in high altitude sites to assess impacts of climate change on populations across Colorado
• yielded two comparable efforts: PikaNET (San Juan Mountains) and cascades pika watch
25Conference on PPSR • August 4-5, 2012
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breed success
Conference on PPSR • August 4-5, 2012
Elements of successful PPSR online projects
PPSR Projects
Shared Praxis Amplified Collective Intelligence
Restructured Expert Attention
* Adapted from Michael Neilsen. 2012. Reinventing Discovery.
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amplify
Conference on PPSR • August 4-5, 2012
how can we harness these motivations for our mutual benefit?
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succeed
Conference on PPSR • August 4-5, 2012
what types of organizational structures, protocols, and materials
have proven effective?
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succeed
Conference on PPSR • August 4-5, 2012
train-the-trainer
the process of training a coordinator who in turn trains volunteers
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succeed
Conference on PPSR • August 4-5, 2012
crowd-sourcing
the process of outsourcing tasks to a distributed group of people
so what’s next?
• add event management module• improve online training support• create volunteer tracking module• improve project social marketing abilities• integrate w/ SciStarter to promote projects
43Conference on PPSR • August 4-5, 2012
continue to support PPSR project needs…
so what’s next?
• develop customized analysis modules• select x and y variables• select statistical analyses• define treatment groups
• add customized reports modules• develop mobile applications• add blog post features
44Conference on PPSR • August 4-5, 2012
develop new features…
so what’s next?
• encourage synergy / inter-operability• provide data mgmt., visualization, and
analysis services• promote standardization where applicable• create API’s for third party integration• develop web services for data exchange
45Conference on PPSR • August 4-5, 2012
advance informatics capabilities…
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final thoughts
Conference on PPSR • August 4-5, 2012
“Conservation ecology requires … research in what might be called applicable science - a mix of theory, basic research, and illuminating applied examples. It requires analysis and examples of novel ways to develop incentives such that individual self-interests better reinforce [the] social goals of conservation … [and] … it requires experiments in novel ways to develop citizen science as an antidote to the power… that now so distorts the use of information...””
~ C.S. Holling (1998)