{
    "version" : "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1",
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    "title" : "Citizen Science is Sound Science Provided by You |Digital.gov",
    "description": "Citizen Science is Sound Science Provided by You",
    "home_page_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/","feed_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2016/08/25/citizen-science-is-sound-science-provided-by-you/index.json","item" : [
    {"title" :"Citizen Science is Sound Science Provided by You","summary" : "Have you ever seen a cool bird in your backyard and wondered if there was some way to share what you saw with others? Better yet, have you thought about sharing your observations and having them used to help study and conserve those birds? These thoughts are an indicator that you might have the makings of a","date" : "2016-08-25T14:00:48-04:00","date_modified" : "2025-01-27T19:42:55-05:00","authors" : {"stephanie-dromerick" : "Stephanie Dromerick"},"topics" : {
        
            "crowdsourcing-and-citizen-science" : "Crowdsourcing and citizen science"
            },"branch" : "bc-archive-content-3",
      "filename" :"2016-08-25-citizen-science-is-sound-science-provided-by-you.md",
      
      "filepath" :"news/2016/08/2016-08-25-citizen-science-is-sound-science-provided-by-you.md",
      "filepathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/blob/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2016/08/2016-08-25-citizen-science-is-sound-science-provided-by-you.md",
      "editpathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/edit/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2016/08/2016-08-25-citizen-science-is-sound-science-provided-by-you.md","slug" : "citizen-science-is-sound-science-provided-by-you","url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2016/08/25/citizen-science-is-sound-science-provided-by-you/","content" :"\u003cp\u003eHave you ever seen a cool bird in your backyard and wondered if there was some way to share what you saw with others? Better yet, have you thought about sharing your observations and having them used to help study and conserve those birds? These thoughts are an indicator that you might have the makings of a great \u003ca href=\"http://www.esa.org/esa/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Issue19.pdf\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ecitizen scientist\u003c/a\u003e (\u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2016/08/application-pdf.png\"\n    alt=\"PDF icon\"/\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n PDF, 28 pgs, 3 MB)!\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003ca href=\"http://www.fs.fed.us/\"\u003eForest Service\u003c/a\u003e is engaged in a wide \u003ca href=\"https://ccsinventory.wilsoncenter.org/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003evariety of citizen science projects\u003c/a\u003e that encourage public involvement in natural and cultural resource science and conservation. Volunteers can contribute by forming research questions, collecting and analyzing data, or interpreting results. If you have a sense of wonder and discovery, citizen science may be for you. \u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2016/08/600-x-450-Volunteers-walking-the-Olympic-National-Forest-in-Washington-to-monitor-coastal-martins%5c_credit%5c_Adventurers-and-Scientists-for-Conservation.jpg\"\n    alt=\"Volunteers walking the Olympic National Forest in Washington to monitor coastal martins.\"/\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCitizen science can help in conservation and protecting natural resources in two ways: increasing scientific knowledge just like conventional research; and creating a conversation about scientific information and policy and to encourage public input and action.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMany scientific projects would be difficult to research without the help of volunteers because of their size, complexity, or cost. Volunteers can contribute in many ways including helping to \u003ca href=\"http://budburst.org/forests\" target=\"_blank\"\u003etrack patterns in space and time\u003c/a\u003e of one or more parts of the ecosystem, or in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLGk_VG_U5Y\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ediscovery of species\u003c/a\u003e or important \u003ca href=\"http://www.fs.fed.us/blogs/forest-service-celebrates-50th-anniversary-national-historic-preservation-act\"\u003ecultural resources\u003c/a\u003e. At the same time, getting local communities engaged in projects can increase the relevancy of scientific research locally and can \u003ca href=\"https://ccsinventory.wilsoncenter.org/#projectId/208\" target=\"_blank\"\u003efoster environmental stewardship\u003c/a\u003e It can also build a better understanding between the community, scientists and decision makers about social aspects in environmental issues.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMany organizations rely on the best available science in order to make management decisions. However, the best scientific information does not necessarily come from peer-reviewed scientific publications, rather it is the best scientific information available to answer the questions raised.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eData integrity is achieved in the same way that it is in any research project, through standardized sampling procedures. Similar quality assurance and controls are used for both citizen science and conventional science and include training, collection of duplicate samples, and post-data collection analyses. \u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2016/08/250-x-375-Volunteers-traversing-the-North-Cascades-Mountains-looking-to-track-butterflies%5c_credit%5c_National-Park-Service.jpg\"\n    alt=\"Volunteers traversing the North Cascades Mountains looking to track butterflies.\"/\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYour involvement matters.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Forest Service very much wants to engage communities in caring for their land and natural resources. Every year, tens of thousands of \u003ca href=\"http://www.fs.fed.us/working-with-us/volunteers\"\u003evolunteers\u003c/a\u003e take to the forests, grasslands, wetlands, coasts–and their own backyards–to contribute high quality data for science.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen the public is involved in land and resource management through citizen science, it can foster the connection between scientific discovery and public interest. So, how will you contribute to the places you love?\u003cem\u003eThis post was originally published on the \u003ca href=\"http://www.fs.fed.us/blogs/\"\u003eForest Service\u003c/a\u003e blog.\u003c/em\u003e\n\u003cem\u003eTo learn more, read our \u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/topics/crowdsourcing-and-citizen-science/\"\u003eCrowdsourcing and Citizen Science articles\u003c/a\u003e, and \u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/communities/\"\u003ejoin the Federal Community of Practice on Crowdsourcing and Citizen Science (CCS)\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n"}
  ]
}