Crowdsourcing Climate: Citizen Science and the National Climate Assessment
Citizen science—or the engagement of volunteers in scientific investigations—is a fast-growing field. By collecting data on natural phenomena such as the timing of bird migrations and plant flowering—sometimes from their own backyard—citizen scientists provide essential baseline information about key environmental indicators, in addition to strengthening their own awareness of and connection to their local environment. Citizen science has long been an important component of scientific endeavors and public engagement at USGCRP agencies such as DOI (particularly NPS and USGS), EPA, NOAA, NASA, NSF, and SI. As such, it presents a powerful opportunity for engaging the public in the sustained National Climate Assessment (see Section 2.3).
In cooperation with the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars and the Federal Community of Practice for Crowdsourcing and Citizen Science, USGCRP recently held a public roundtable and an expert workshop to explore how citizen science can help to track indicators of climate change and shape indicator products. At the roundtable, leaders in the field from USGCRP agencies and from outside the government contributed to a panel discussion that addressed questions about public participation in science from the international scale to the K–12 level. The subsequent workshop afforded a hands-on opportunity to tackle practical questions about incorporating citizen science into climate indicators, and how the two can be used together to help a range of audiences better understand climate change. A synthesis of these discussions was shared at the inaugural Citizen Science Association Conference in February 2015. A workshop report, to be released later this year, will serve as input to the sustained assessment process.