Bringing Together User Communities for Citizen Science using Anecdata.org
Abstract
Anecdata.org, is a free online citizen science platform used to collect, manage, and share data from community science projects. Anecdata is a platform for community science project managers, participants, and practitioners who are working to bring about change in their communities by collecting and sharing environmental data. The platform is home to over 250 community science projects and is used by more than 11,000 users. Projects range in size and are led by NASA, the South Carolina Aquarium, Colorado State University and Schoodic Institute, to name a few organizations. I was brought on board as the community social scientist to understand how data collected through the platform was being for advocacy and for collaboration among fellow citizen scientists. I conducted two focus groups and several more individual interviews with project leaders who discussed how the platform enabled them to host and share data with community organizations. User concerns about platform continuity was shared with the platform and recommendations were made for a more robust user community. The project is ongoing and I plan to present preliminary findings. This project received a course reallocation from the SARS office.
Keywords
community monitoring, environmental sustainability, citizen science, organizational collaboration
Bringing Together User Communities for Citizen Science using Anecdata.org
CASB 105
Anecdata.org, is a free online citizen science platform used to collect, manage, and share data from community science projects. Anecdata is a platform for community science project managers, participants, and practitioners who are working to bring about change in their communities by collecting and sharing environmental data. The platform is home to over 250 community science projects and is used by more than 11,000 users. Projects range in size and are led by NASA, the South Carolina Aquarium, Colorado State University and Schoodic Institute, to name a few organizations. I was brought on board as the community social scientist to understand how data collected through the platform was being for advocacy and for collaboration among fellow citizen scientists. I conducted two focus groups and several more individual interviews with project leaders who discussed how the platform enabled them to host and share data with community organizations. User concerns about platform continuity was shared with the platform and recommendations were made for a more robust user community. The project is ongoing and I plan to present preliminary findings. This project received a course reallocation from the SARS office.