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Poster Short Abstract

Citizen science can be romanticized as a low-cost approach to engaging the public and collecting data at scale. We propose a cost-benefit survey and framework to quantify the project costs and impacts to guide project managers, policymakers, and funders.

Poster Abstract

Many citizen science projects launch with the hope of engaging the public in data collection, achieving a scale and reach beyond any research team working in isolation. While the ‘crowdsourcing’ approach is compelling, it also requires significant resources with hidden costs, notably in mobilizing and maintaining volunteer involvement, developing and maintaining technological infrastructure (e.g. mobile apps), continuous engagement with the public and stakeholders, training, ensuring data quality through data management and validation, upholding ethical standards of conduct, and common ongoing management inherent in any project. Though many ‘how to’ guides for citizen science exist, these rarely catalogue what resources (personnel time, money) are required to make citizen science a success. To close this gap, we will conduct a survey of citizen science initiatives and methodologies, cataloguing costs in terms of (i) scientific capital, (ii) human capital - learning and empowerment of citizens, and (iii) project outcomes. Our results will provide a crucial baseline for would-be citizen science project managers, policymakers, and funding bodies.