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.
Jennifer Shirk
Deep Roots, Broad Branches - growing a multidisciplinary field
Speaker Bio:Jennifer Shirk works to support citizen science as a field of practice, advancing promising strategies that support integrity in both research and public engagement. As Interim Executive Director of the Citizen Science Association, Jennifer builds collaborations to share transferrable knowledge of practice from across different citizen science communities and contexts. At Cornell, she investigates the social and relational dynamics that play out when scientists, managers, and diverse stakeholders engage in the production of new, collaborative knowledge for resource management. Jennifer has a B.A. in Conservation Biology from Bard College, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Natural Resources from Cornell University.
Presentation: Deep Roots, Broad Branches - growing a multidisciplinary field
While the history of citizen science often focuses on environmental sciences, there is a rich tradition of similar research approaches can be found in disciplines as varied as astronomy, meteorology, and public health. Citizen science is also rapidly expanding across research domains both within and beyond the sciences. This growth reflects the ability of citizen science to make distinct, novel, and innovative contributions to scientific understandings, and its success at opening both new opportunities and new appreciations for the ways that science can engage public insight. As the field of citizen science grows, its use continues to advance discovery, foster innovation, and expand the boundaries of knowledge, revealing new ways to connect research and public engagement for policy relevance. An inclusive community of practice, one that spans diverse disciplines and definitions, can facilitate more rapid transfer, use, and adaptation of relevant technologies and research approaches to new purposes. Cross- disciplinary networking can help advance practice around concerns shared across all disciplines, such as issues of ethics, democratization, participation, and policy. And a united field can advance the practice in general by demonstrating the broad social and scientific significance and relevance of exemplary public engagement in research. For these reasons, organizations like the Citizen Science Association are striving to engage a multidisciplinary conversation. To the theme of this conference, this can require both changing perspectives and breaking barriers – preferably also extending bridges. I will invite conversation about the similarities and meaningful differences across different practices, and strategies for building a multidisciplinary field.