Send message to Author

Poster Short Abstract

We explore how two large-scale citizen science projects, Christmas Bird Count and eBird, perpetuate legacy systems of colonization. Can these types of projects change to support diverse communities and alternative ways of knowing in both WEIRD and non-WEIRD contexts?

Poster Abstract

Large-scale citizen science projects are important for their ability to collect data across geographic regions that can better help understand trends on a regional and global scale. These systems currently function to serve Western science and Western scientific frameworks. These projects face challenges of diversity, inclusion, and equity. They have also used a deficit-based approach where the burden of the barriers to participation lay on the individual instead of an examination of systematic changes at all levels of the project. Based on an analysis of global participation, we argue that Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s eBird perpetuates a colonial British way of “knowing” birds and perpetuates a historical legacy of dominant western culture. These lessons learned can be implemented across marginalized groups even within a WEIRD country. Through the implementation of an equity driven training program (The IDEAL Program), we guided leaders of Audubon’s Christmas Bird Count in reflective and reflexive thinking and a step-by-step process to change their project to expand and support multicultural participation. If large-scale citizen science projects can make changes to be more diverse and inclusive, can citizen science be the bridge between Western science and alternative ways of knowing resulting in a deeper understanding?