- Convenors:
-
Cristina Luis
(CHANGE and CE3C - Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon, RPCC - Portuguese Citizen Science Network)
António Gouveia (University of Coimbra)
Ana Simões (CIUHCT, Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon)
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- Format:
- Panel
Short Abstract
This panel discusses the often neglected contributions of amateur scientists, especially women, to 19th-20th century science. It highlights their role in collecting data and producing knowledge, and reflects on how these hidden histories inform current efforts at citizen science and inclusion.
Description
This panel will discuss the historical contributions of amateur scientists, particularly women, to the development of many scientific fields from the 19th to the early 20th century. Throughout the world, science have long depended on systematic observation and extensive data collection, often supported by amateurs whose names rarely entered the formal records of science. Despite their significant contribution, e.g., to botanical, zoological and astronomical data collection, the contributions of these individuals, especially women, local collaborators and members of marginalized communities, have remained largely invisible in traditional scientific narratives.
We explore how the participation of amateurs has been shaped by changing political regimes, educational reforms and gender norms, and how collaborative networks between amateurs and professionals have evolved over time. Special attention is paid to neglected women who collected specimens or recorded data, sometimes under the names of their husbands or in the shadow of institutions. Their work, preserved in herbaria, observatory records and museum collections, is increasingly recognized as fundamental to current biodiversity research and the long-term study of astronomical events.
By revisiting these hidden histories, this panel not only recovers neglected scientific work, but also draws lessons for current citizen science initiatives, challenging current practices of recognition and inclusion and emphasising the value of diverse contributions to the production of scientific knowledge.
Accepted papers
Short Abstract
By examining amateur practices in natural history and astronomy in peripheral Portugal, this paper reveals how social hierarchies shaped participation in science and how these experiences anticipated contemporary forms of citizen science
Abstract
This paper examines various forms of amateur participation in Portuguese science between the 19th and early 20th centuries, focusing on natural history and astronomy. By examining these practices within a country often considered peripheral to the European scientific centres, the paper highlights how social position, institutional affiliation, and scientific authority shaped both the visibility and invisibility of those who worked outside professional scientific institutions.
In natural history, amateur naturalists of the late 19th century and early 20th century illustrate how individuals contributed to museum collections and taxonomic knowledge through personal initiatives and correspondence networks. Their work also reflects the active involvement of women in observation and classification practices, forms of participation that are often overlooked in Portuguese scientific narratives. At the same time, members of the aristocracy combined leisure, curiosity, and patronage to support the creation of natural history collections, some of which were developed with the contribution of aristocratic women.
This paper also revisits the solar eclipse of 1900, a great example of public engagement with astronomy in Portugal aimed at men and women. The dissemination of a booklet on the eclipse by the director of the Lisbon Astronomical Observatory, his extensive collaboration with newspapers, and the efforts to build a national network of correspondents gave him a decisive role in coordinating and amplifying public participation in scientific observation.
By intertwining these cases, we will show that Portuguese amateur science reveals some examples of historical interdependence between professional and lay knowledge, offering valuable insights for inclusive and participatory approaches in contemporary citizen science in peripherical contexts.
Short Abstract
The University of Coimbra Herbarium holds 500k+ plant specimens. A study of 19th-century collections highlights overlooked contributors, including women, whose work in species discovery and documentation shaped botanical knowledge and now informs biodiversity conservation.
Abstract
The University of Coimbra Herbarium (COI) safeguards over 100,000 Portuguese flora specimens and over 200,000 specimens from former African colonies. A critical examination of the contexts in which this biological material was collected and accumulated has led to the recognition of a larger diversity of plant collectors. Alongside the over-representation of Western men with formal education, women's participation in these processes of knowledge production is evident, as are the contributions of other individuals who are often unacknowledged, such as amateur plant collectors and gardeners in Portugal, or local and indigenous assistants who contributed their work and/or knowledge (ethnobotanical, medicinal, etc.) in the former colonies.
Focusing on the long nineteenth century, our aim was to highlight female collectors and botanists whose specimens are catalogued in COI. We attempted to uncover their biographies and report on their periods of activity. Our aim was to analyse their collection strategies and contributions to identifying new species, documenting their distribution and advancing knowledge of plant diversity. The data provided by female collectors and botanists such as Sophia Rosa da Silva, one of the first Portuguese female doctors (active between 1876 and 1890), or Maria da Conceição Ochôa, wife of the first republican mayor of Alfândega da Fé, who collected 70 plants between April and July 1890, is now crucial for defining conservation priorities in this biodiversity crisis. At the same time, acknowledging the participation of these women complicates narratives and adds actors to the history of botanical knowledge production in the nineteenth century.