***Strictly embargoed until 00:01am GMT Friday, 23 November 2012***
Press release 2012/11 - Issued by the NERC Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, UK
Major review of citizen science leads to new practical guide
A new practical guide on how to develop, implement and evaluate citizen science projects to
monitor the UK’s environment is published today. The guide is based on conclusions from a
comprehensive report reviewing more than 200 citizen science projects from the UK and around the
world.
Scientists from the NERC Centre for Ecology & Hydrology and the Natural History Museum in London
were commissioned by the UK Environmental Observation Framework (UK-EOF) to undertake a
review of citizen science. The aim of the project “Understanding Citizen Science and Environmental
Monitoring” was to learn lessons from past citizen science projects. The report and guide published
today are particularly timely because there is growing interest in using citizen science, an
increasingly valuable approach to scientific discovery, for environmental monitoring purposes.
Citizen science can broadly be defined as the involvement of volunteers in science. The UK-EOF
project reviewed 234 projects ranging in scale from small one-off local surveys, such as a bioblitz in a
local park, to large scale long-term programmes, such as the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme. The
project team studied the motivations of volunteers, held structured interviews with users of citizen
science and environmental monitoring data, and looked at how such projects help meet policy
needs.
The practical guide accompanying today’s full project report shares the good practices found during
the review process, making suggestions on how to plan, carry out, and evaluate citizen science
projects to provide benefits for both participants and potential data users.
Project leader Dr Helen Roy from the Biological Records Centre at the NERC Centre for Ecology &
Hydrology said, “It has been fantastic to have the opportunity to review such a wide range of citizen
science projects. Our work shows the high value of citizen science to research, policy and practice, as
well as its importance in connecting thousands of people to their environment across the UK, and
the wider world.”
Professor Doug Wilson, Head of Scientific and Evidence Services in the Evidence Directorate at the
Environment Agency and chair of the UK-EOF Management Group said, “Citizen science has a vital
role in scientific research and education, and the potential to help meet some of the challenging
demands of environmental monitoring at the national scale. This gives citizen science a clear
relevance to government policy across the UK. The easily accessible Guide, along with the supporting
Report, will provide a fabulous resource for anyone interested in working with volunteers in citizen
science.”
Lead author of the practical guide Dr John Tweddle, from the Angela Marmont Centre for UK
Biodiversity at the Natural History Museum, said, “Volunteer participation in the observation of
nature and wider environmental monitoring has a long and illustrious history, especially in Britain.
It’s a fun and rewarding pastime that plays a huge role in improving our scientific understanding. Our
Guide aims to support anyone with an interest in developing their own citizen science project - and
new communication technologies, like mobile phone apps and environmental sensors, mean that it
has never been easier to get involved.”
The project concluded that:
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Environmental-based citizen science has a wide scope. For centuries citizen scientists have
monitored a broad range of plants, animals and fungi (80% of the projects reviewed involved
biodiversity) as well as contributing data on weather and the wider environment using many
varied approaches (from citizen-led projects with local community groups to, more
commonly, scientist-led mass participation initiatives that are open to all sectors of society).
The use of recent technological developments is revolutionising citizen science - for example
the use of on-line recording, such as iRecord, and smartphone apps, such as PlantTracker.
Data quality from citizen science can be excellent, even though this is not yet recognised by
all researchers and policymakers – citizen scientists working alongside professional scientists
or using appropriate quality assurance and validation processes provide data of a very high
standard and additionally have the capacity to provide data across large geographic areas
and over long timescales.
Citizen science is a very cost-effective way of collecting environmental data. During one year
alone, volunteer observers for biodiversity surveillance in the UK were estimated to
contribute time in-kind worth more than £20 million. However, despite relying on
volunteers, citizen science is not free. The analysis carried out showed that projects
providing data relevant to policy development typically have annual running costs of
between £70k and £150k, spent, for example, on website or smartphone app development,
publicity material, data management and event costs, on top of the in-kind contribution of
volunteers.
There is potential to make considerably more use of citizen science than is currently the
case. A good example is the surveillance and monitoring of invasive non-native species
building on the work of existing projects such as the GB Non-Native Species Information
Portal (GB-NNSIP) which already encourages people to submit records of species of concern
to an online alert system.
Both the full report and the practical guide are free to download (from the UK-EOF, CEH and NHM
websites) and can be distributed for non-commercial purposes.
Notes for editors
Contacts
Project leader Dr Helen Roy is based at the NERC Centre for Ecology & Hydrology in Wallingford,
Oxfordshire. Mobile: 07540167488, Email: hele@ceh.ac.uk
For further information or to interview the Guide lead author Dr John Tweddle please contact Claire
Gilby, Senior Press Officer at the Natural History Museum, London Tel: 020 7942 5654 Email:
press@nhm.ac.uk
Dr Helen Beadman from the UK Environmental Observation Framework, Mobile: 07774 008283
Before Friday copies of the full report and the practical guide as well as high resolution images
showing various citizen science activities can be obtained from Barnaby Smith, Media Relations
Manager at the NERC Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Mobile: 07920 295384, Email:
bpgs@ceh.ac.uk
From Friday morning copies of the report and guide can be downloaded from the UK-EOF website
and the CEH publications website.
Additional information
The UK Environmental Observation Framework (UK-EOF) funded the UK-EOF ‘Understanding Citizen
Science & Environmental Monitoring’) project. The Natural History Museum and NERC Centre for
Ecology & Hydrology provided in-kind support to the project team.
Practical guide citation: Tweddle, J.C., Robinson, L.D., Pocock, M.J. & Roy, H.E (2012). Guide to
citizen science: developing, implementing and evaluating citizen science to study biodiversity and
the environment in the UK. Natural History Museum and NERC Centre for Ecology & Hydrology for
UK-EOF. 32pp. ISBN: 978-1-906698-37-9
Full report citation: Roy, H.E., Pocock, M.J.O., Preston, C.D., Roy, D.B., Savage, J., Tweddle, J.C. &
Robinson, L.D. (2012) Understanding Citizen Science & Environmental Monitoring. Final Report.
NERC Centre for Ecology & Hydrology and Natural History Museum on behalf of UK-EOF. 175pp
The official launch of the practical guide and full report will take place at NBN Annual Conference on
23 November 2012.
The UK Environmental Observation Framework - Changing the way the UK perceives, values and uses
environmental observations - UK-EOF aims to facilitate the ongoing environmental evidence
required to understand the changing natural environment, thus guiding current and future
environmental management, policy science and innovation priorities for economic benefit and
quality of life. UK-EOF is a partnership of: Countryside Council for Wales, Department for
Environment Food and Rural Affairs, Department of Energy and Climate Change, Economic and
Social Research Council, Environment Agency, Forestry Commission, Joint Nature Conservation
Committee, Met Office, Natural England, Natural Environment Research Council, Northern Ireland
Environment Agency, Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Scottish Natural Heritage, The
Scottish Government, UK Space Agency, Welsh Government. UK-EOF was launched in 2008 to
address issues of fragmentation, data access and a lack of strategic direction in environmental
monitoring. Together with its partners UK-EOF aspires to identify and address the issues surrounding
environmental observations made for and by the UK. UK-EOF seeks to provide a cost effective
mechanism to work in partnership across government, the devolved administrations, agencies and
the voluntary sector to make the best use of expertise and resources in support of national and
international goals.
The NERC Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH) is the UK's Centre of Excellence for integrated
research in the land and freshwater ecosystems and their interaction with the atmosphere. CEH is
part of the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), employs more than 450 people at four
major sites in England, Scotland and Wales, hosts over 150 PhD students, and has an overall budget
of about £35m. CEH tackles complex environmental challenges to deliver practicable solutions so
that future generations can benefit from a rich and healthy environment. twitter:
@CEHScienceNews rss: http://www.ceh.ac.uk/rss/rss.xml
The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) is the UK's main agency for funding and managing
world-class research, training and knowledge exchange in the environmental sciences. It coordinates
some of the world's most exciting research projects, tackling major issues such as climate change,
food security, environmental influences on human health, the genetic make-up of life on earth, and
much more. NERC receives around £300m a year from the government's science budget, which it
uses to fund research and training in universities and its own research centres.
The Natural History Museum is an award-winning tourist attraction and also a world-leading science
research centre. Through its collections and scientific expertise, the Museum works to help
understand and maintain the richness and diversity of our planet, with groundbreaking partnerships
in more than 70 countries.
Scotland's Environment Web (SEWeb) brings together information on Scotland's environment in one
place. Environmental data and reports from known and trusted sources can be accessed and looked
at in combination. The site provides straight-forward descriptions of the state of Scotland's
environment and key messages that highlight Scotland’s progress in protecting it.