In 2014, the Miistakis Institute hosted a Citizen Science Conference, exploring this diverse field with sessions on program design, evaluation, policy implications, technology and applications in parks and protected areas. This links to the website that chronicled that event.
Gwendolyn Blue
Citizen Science as Civic Science: New spaces for reflexive practice?
Speaker Bio: Gwendolyn Blue is an Associate Professor in Geography at the University of Calgary. Formally trained in Cultural Studies, her research examines public controversies involving science and technology; public engagement with science and technology; and political, cultural and ethical dimensions of scientific and technological innovations.
Keynote presentation:Citizen Science as Civic Science: new spaces for reflexive practice?
Citizen science and participatory monitoring are situated in in a broader social context of civic science in which public participation in scientific research takes different forms. Drawing on the collective discussions from the workshop, this presentation will discuss the advantages and challenges associated with implementing different models of civic science. Central to this presentation is the importance of reflexivity – the examination of existing values, assumptions and power relations– as an important but often neglected component of civic science. This means taking time to surface and examine existing assumptions about science and the publics we imagine ourselves engaging with.