Tag Archives: iNaturalist

Association for Advancing Participatory Sciences (AAPS; formerly the Citizen Science Association) January 2025 newsletter highlights

Here are a few excerpts from the Association for Advancing Participatory Sciences (AAPS; formerly the Citizen Science Association) January 2025 newsletter (received via email),

AI and the Future of Citizen Science: event and special collection

WEBINAR: Thursday, February 6 [2025], 12pm US Eastern Time

A conversation with editors and leaders

In December we announced a new special collection on the Future of Artificial Intelligence and Citizen Science. This open-access special collection of 12 papers explores the potential of AI coupled with citizen science in accelerating data processing, expanding project reach, enhancing data quality, and broadening engagement opportunities.

To help orient you to the themes covered in the special collection, issue editors Lucy Fortson, Kevin Crowston, Laure Kloetzer, and Marisa Ponti will join us for a special conversation with Marc Kuchner, Citizen Science Officer, NASA, February 6, 12pm ET. This event will go beyond a recap of papers presented in the special collection, and invite panelists to share their thoughts and perspectives on ethical considerations, challenges, and future directions. 

>>Register here for this conversation on AI 

Interested in Citizen Science: Theory & Practice

Call for Abstracts (closing soon): Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums

A call for abstracts is open for a forthcoming Special Collection in Citizen Science: Theory and Practice which will explore galleries, libraries, archives, and museums (GLAM) participatory science efforts in order to support and empower the global field of participatory sciences. By sharing innovative practices and advancing theories, this collection will contribute to the continued refinement of best practices in these vital ‘third spaces’ and beyond. Issue overview and submission deadlines and logistics are available on the AAPS website. Abstracts accepted through 28 February 2025.

>> Share this call for papers with the GLAM organizations in your network 

More events from the AAPS-partnered 2025 NASA Cit Sci Leaders Series: 

Artificial Intelligence, Open Data, Funding, and more

The NASA Citizen Science Leaders Series is a professional learning service for those leading, hoping to lead, or wanting to learn more about NASA Citizen Science. The following events are open to the public. 

  • Artificial Intelligence: This event, in collaboration with AAPS, features the issue editors from the new Special Collection sharing their key takeaways and hot takes on the topic.  Register here. [February 6, 2025] Noon ET start.
  • Artificial Intelligence in practice: On February 20 [2025] the Zooniverse’s Dr. Laura Trouille will join us to share new functionality of the Zooniverse platform, including ways that Zooniverse projects are adjusting to work with new Artificial Intelligence/ machine learning tools. Register here. Noon ET start.
  • Open Data Management plans and long-term archives of citizen science project data: On March 6 [2025] Dr. Steven Crawford who leads NASA’s Open Science work will discuss these issues and more. Register here.3 pm ET start.
  • Funding: On March 13 [2025] explore landscape of different NASA proposal calls and hear insights on how solicitations are written, how proposals are reviewed, and how funding is handled. Register here. 3 pm ET start.

Members in AAPS Connect can get instant notices when opportunities are posted, often directly from the source. Interested in direct networking with field leaders and being the first to hear of important jobs, grants, and more?  Become a member of AAPS (tiered pricing costs as little as $0).

Jobs:

  • iNaturalist is hiring a Senior Communications Manager responsible for delivering engaging, visual communications about iNaturalist to reach and engage new audiences. Full details here.
  • Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF) is hiring an Education coordinator to support activities related to REEF Ocean Explorers and Discovery programming, including K-12 and lifelong learning education and public outreach programs. Full details available here.
  • Cornell Lab of Ornithology is hiring an Extension Associate to as the thought leader and team leader for Youth and Community Engagement for the Lab both nationally and in international settings, with key responsibilities in strategic planning, partnership development, implementation, and evaluation of impact. Full details available here. 

Should you be interested in received AAPS newsletters, visit the organization’s homepage.

Squirrel observations in St. Louis: a story of bias in citizen science data

Squirrels and other members of the family Sciuridae. Credit: Chicoutimi (montage) Karakal AndiW National Park Service en:User:Markus Krötzsch The Lilac Breasted Roller Nico Conradie from Centurion, South Africa Hans Hillewaert Sylvouille National Park Service – Own work from Wikipedia/CC by 3.0 licence

A March 5, 2024 news item on phys.org introduces a story about squirrels, bias, and citizen science,

When biologist Elizabeth Carlen pulled up in her 2007 Subaru for her first look around St. Louis, she was already checking for the squirrels. Arriving as a newcomer from New York City, Carlen had scrolled through maps and lists of recent sightings in a digital application called iNaturalist. This app is a popular tool for reporting and sharing sightings of animals and plants.

People often start using apps like iNaturalist and eBird when they get interested in a contributory science project (also sometimes called a citizen science project). Armed with cellphones equipped with cameras and GPS, app-wielding volunteers can submit geolocated data that iNaturalist then translates into user-friendly maps. Collectively, these observations have provided scientists and community members greater insight into the biodiversity of their local environment and helped scientists understand trends in climate change, adaptation and species distribution.

But right away, Carlen ran into problems with the iNaturalist data in St. Louis.

A March 5, 2024 Washington University in St. Louis news release (also on EurekAlert) by Talia Ogliore, which originated the news item, describes the bias problem and the research it inspired, Note: Links have been removed,

“According to the app, Eastern gray squirrels tended to be mostly spotted in the south part of the city,” said Carlen, a postdoctoral fellow with the Living Earth Collaborative at Washington University in St. Louis. “That seemed weird to me, especially because the trees, or canopy cover, tended to be pretty even across the city.

“I wondered what was going on. Were there really no squirrels in the northern part of the city?” Carlen said. A cursory drive through a few parks and back alleys north of Delmar Boulevard told her otherwise: squirrels galore.

Carlen took to X, formerly Twitter, for advice. “Squirrels are abundant in the northern part of the city, but there are no recorded observations,” she mused. Carlen asked if others had experienced similar issues with iNaturalist data in their own backyards.

Many people responded, voicing their concerns and affirming Carlen’s experience. The maps on iNaturalist seemed clear, but they did not reflect the way squirrels were actually distributed across St. Louis. Instead, Carlen was looking at biased data.

Previous research has highlighted biases in data reported to contributory science platforms, but little work has articulated how these biases arise.

Carlen reached out to the scientists who responded to her Twitter post to brainstorm some ideas. They put together a framework that illustrates how social and ecological factors combine to create bias in contributory data. In a new paper published in People & Nature, Carlen and her co-authors shared this framework and offered some recommendations to help address the problems.

The scientists described four kinds of “filters” that can bias the reported species pool in contributory science projects:

* Participation filter. Participation reflects who is reporting the data, including where those people are located and the areas they have access to. This filter also may reflect whether individuals in a community are aware of an effort to collect data, or if they have the means and motivation to collect it.

* Detectability filter. An animal’s biology and behavior can impact whether people record it. For example, people are less likely to report sightings of owls or other nocturnal species.

* Sampling filter. People might be more willing to report animals they see when they are recreating (i.e. hanging out in a park), but not what they see while they’re commuting.

* Preference filter. People tend to ignore or filter out pests, nuisance species and uncharismatic or “boring” species. (“There’s not a lot of people photographing rats and putting them on iNaturalist — or pigeons, for that matter,” Carlen said.)

In the paper, Carlen and her team applied their framework to data recorded in St. Louis as a case study. They showed that eBird and iNaturalist observations are concentrated in the southern part of the city, where more white people live. Uneven participation in St. Louis is likely a consequence of variables, such as race, income, and/or contemporary politics, which differ between northern and southern parts of the city, the authors wrote. The other filters of detectability, sampling and preference also likely influence species reporting in St. Louis.

Biased and unrepresentative data is not just a problem for urban ecologists, even if they are the ones who are most likely to notice it, Carlen said. City planners, environmental consultants and local nonprofits all sometimes use contributory science data in their work.

“We need to be very conscious about how we’re using this data and how we’re interpreting where animals are,” Carlen said.

Carlen shared several recommendations for researchers and institutions that want to improve contributory science efforts and help reduce bias. Basic steps include considering cultural relevance when designing a project, conducting proactive outreach with diverse stakeholders and translating project materials into multiple languages.

Data and conclusions drawn from contributory projects should be made publicly available, communicated in accessible formats and made relevant to participants and community members.

“It’s important that we work with communities to understand what their needs are — and then build a better partnership,” Carlen said. “We can’t just show residents the app and tell them that they need to use it, because that ignores the underlying problem that our society is still segregated and not everyone has the resources to participate.

“We need to build relationships with the community and understand what they want to know about the wildlife in their neighborhood,” Carlen said. “Then we can design projects that address those questions, provide resources and actively empower community members to contribute to data collection.”

Here’s a link to and a citation for the paper,

A framework for contextualizing social-ecological biases in contributory science data by Elizabeth J. Carlen, Cesar O. Estien, Tal Caspi, Deja Perkins, Benjamin R. Goldstein, Samantha E. S. Kreling, Yasmine Hentati, Tyus D. Williams, Lauren A. Stanton, Simone Des Roches, Rebecca F. Johnson, Alison N. Young, Caren B. Cooper, Christopher J. Schell. People & Nature Volume 6, Issue 2 April 2024 Pages 377-390 DI: https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10592 First published: 03 March 2024

This paper is open access.

Seahorses in a citizen science project

Seahorses are the object of an international citizen science project, iSeahorse, according to an Oct. 8, 2013 University of British Columbia media release,

Marine conservationists from the University of British Columbia, Zoological Society of London (ZSL), and John G. Shedd Aquarium, Chicago today launched a smartphone app that could lead to new discoveries about some of the ocean’s most mysterious and threatened animals — seahorses — and pave the way for similar efforts with other difficult-to-study species.

With iSeahorse Explore, anyone, anywhere in the world can become a citizen scientist and contribute to marine conservation with a few taps of their phone. The iPhone app is designed for people to quickly log seahorse sightings whenever they encounter an animal in the wild.

Here’s a seahorse image courtesy of UBC, (University of British Columbia),

Seahorses are difficult to study in the wild because of their small size and ability to blend into their surroundings. Photo: Edwin van der Sande/Guylian Seahorses of the World

Seahorses are difficult to study in the wild because of their small size and ability to blend into their surroundings. Photo: Edwin van der Sande/Guylian Seahorses of the World

As fascinating as they are, we still have a lot to learn about seahorses (from the media release),

“We’ve made important scientific breakthroughs with seahorses in recent years, but they remain incredibly enigmatic animals,” says Amanda Vincent, director of Project Seahorse, UBC and ZSL’s joint marine conservation initiative.

Thanks to their small size and ability to blend into their surroundings, seahorses are difficult to study in the wild. Of the 48 seahorse species listed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, 26 are considered ‘Data Deficient’—meaning that there isn’t enough information for us to know whether these species are thriving, disappearing, or something in between.

“We know that seahorses are threatened by overfishing, destructive fishing practices, and habitat loss. Now we need to pinpoint populations and places that most need conservation action,” says Heather Koldewey, co-founder of Project Seahorse and Head of Global Conservation Programmes at ZSL.The app and its feature-rich companion website, www.iSeahorse.org, represent a pilot collaboration with iNaturalist.org, a leading citizen science group.

New features planned for the next phase of the iSeahorse website and smartphone app include sophisticated population monitoring and advocacy tools as well as a social media component.

“Working together with citizen scientists all over the world, we’ll accomplish big things for seahorses and other vulnerable marine species,” adds Vincent.

Here are some facts about seahorses (from the backgrounder attached to the media release),

About seahorses

  • Approximately 13 million seahorses are traded globally, live and dead, every year around the world. They are used in traditional Chinese medicine, for display in aquariums, and as curios and souvenirs.
  • These tiny sentinels of the sea thrive in healthy habitats: conserving seahorses helps protect the oceans for all of us who depend on them.
  • Of the 48 seahorse species on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, 11 are listed as threatened. Twenty-six species are listed as Data Deficient, which means that we do not have enough information to confirm their conservation status.
  • Many seahorse species appear to mate for life. Where seahorses are monogamous, their pair-bonds are reinforced by daily greetings, during which the female and male change colour and promenade and pirouette together. The dance lasts several minutes, and then the pair separates for the rest of the day.

As well, the backgrounder offers information about the various project participants,

About iSeahorse
iSeahorse harnesses the power of ‘citizen scientists’ — anyone, anywhere in the world who sees a seahorse in the wild — to improve our understanding of these animals and protect them from overfishing and other threats.

Anyone, from divers to fishers, scientists to people on beach vacations can use the app to upload photos and observations to iSeahorse. These citizen scientists can help identify seahorse species and even advocate for their protection in their ocean neighbourhoods.

Scientists from Project Seahorse and seahorse experts around the world will use this vital information to better understand seahorse behaviour, species ranges, and the threats seahorses face. They will use this knowledge to improve seahorse conservation across the globe.

iSeahorse is made possible by the generous support of Guylian Belgian Chocolate, Harmsworth Trust UK, and Whitley Fund for Nature.

About Project Seahorse
Project Seahorse is a marine conservation group based at the University of British Columbia, Canada, and Zoological Society of London. Recognized by the IUCN as the global authority on seahorses and their relatives, Project Seahorse works to protect seahorses in order to support ocean conservation more broadly, generating cutting-edge research and using it to inform highly effective conservation interventions. Led by Prof. Amanda Vincent and Heather Koldewey, both global experts on seahorse conservation, Project Seahorse has won many international awards and honours, and works in collaboration with researchers, governments, conservation groups and local communities worldwide.

The world’s leading expert on seahorses, Prof. Vincent first uncovered the thriving global seahorse trade in the mid-1990s and co-founded Project Seahorse in response. Project Seahorse researchers were the first to study seahorses in the wild and the first to identify the scope of the threats they face from overfishing and trade. As the IUCN Specialist Group for seahorses and their relatives, we have produced a large proportion of the world’s research on these fishes, approved global conservation assessments, chaired a working group for an international trade accord, provided expert advice to the world’s definitive fish database, and advised public aquarium and aquaculture ventures internationally. The team’s efforts have resulted in the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) adopting international trade controls for seahorses in 2002.

About Zoological Society of London
Founded in 1826, the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) is an international scientific, conservation and educational charity whose mission is to promote and achieve the worldwide conservation of animals and their habitats. ZSL’s mission is realised through our groundbreaking science, its active conservation projects in more than 50 countries and our two zoos, ZSL London Zoo and ZSL Whipsnade Zoo.

About John G. Shedd Aquarium
The John G. Shedd Aquarium, a nonprofit organization dedicated to public education and conservation, is among one of the world’s largest indoor aquariums. The facility houses over 32,500 aquatic animals representing some 1,500 species of fishes, reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates, birds and mammals from waters around the world. Beautifully situated on the shores of Lake Michigan, Shedd Aquarium is known as “The World’s Aquarium.” Since its opening in 1930, the aquarium’s mission has been to enhance public understanding and appreciation of the aquatic world. The Daniel P. Haerther Center for Conservation and Research at Shedd is committed to conserving species and ecosystems through research that advances understanding, informs policy and enhances livelihoods. A longtime supporter and partner of Project Seahorse, Shedd currently works with them in Southeast Asia to build local capacity for monitoring and managing seahorse populations.

About iNaturalist
One of the world’s leading citizen science organizations, iNaturalist is a place where you can record what you see in nature, meet other nature lovers, and learn about the natural world. http://www.inaturalist.org

You can pick up your iSeahorse app here.

I last mentioned Amanda Vincent and Project Seahorse in a March 5, 2013 posting about Vincent’s project to crowdfund a scientific expedition to the Danajon Bank in the Philippines.