Presentation Abstract
Recovery of the Salish Sea ecosystem is facing a harsh reality. Limited funds and capacity throughout the Salish Sea’s scientific community severely reduces timely and concerted progress on a majority of identified scientific needs. A critical piece to successful Salish Sea restoration is ensuring that these identified scientific needs are able to be met, before it is too late. One creative solution to this issue is to engage citizens to participate in scientific monitoring. This presentation will use a case study to explore lessons learned around how collaboration among citizens, scientific experts, and agencies can produce a robust scientific monitoring program that not only produces credible and usable data, but also gives citizens the opportunity to take ownership in the restoration of the Salish Sea. Specifically we will examine the lessons learned by four Aquatic Reserve Citizen Stewardship Committees. The Committees have worked in collaboration with state agencies and scientific experts to develop three ongoing citizen science projects that provide strategic and usable data. These lessons intend to forward a larger conversation in the scientific community about the necessary role of citizen science in the effort to restore the Salish Sea to health.
Session Title
Session S-04I: Citizen Science as a Tool for Conservation
Conference Track
Citizens/Education
Conference Name
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference (2014 : Seattle, Wash.)
Document Type
Event
Start Date
1-5-2014 8:30 AM
End Date
1-5-2014 10:00 AM
Location
Room 604
Genre/Form
conference proceedings; presentations (communicative events)
Contributing Repository
Digital content made available by University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Subjects – Topical (LCSH)
Marine ecosystem management--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)--Citizen participation; Restoration ecology--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)--Citizen participation
Geographic Coverage
Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)
Rights
This resource is displayed for educational purposes only and may be subject to U.S. and international copyright laws. For more information about rights or obtaining copies of this resource, please contact University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225-9103, USA (360-650-7534; heritage.resources@wwu.edu) and refer to the collection name and identifier. Any materials cited must be attributed to the Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference Records, University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Type
Text
Language
English
Format
application/pdf
Included in
Citizen Science and the recovery of the Salish Sea: How volunteers can play a vital role filling unmet scientific needs.
Room 604
Recovery of the Salish Sea ecosystem is facing a harsh reality. Limited funds and capacity throughout the Salish Sea’s scientific community severely reduces timely and concerted progress on a majority of identified scientific needs. A critical piece to successful Salish Sea restoration is ensuring that these identified scientific needs are able to be met, before it is too late. One creative solution to this issue is to engage citizens to participate in scientific monitoring. This presentation will use a case study to explore lessons learned around how collaboration among citizens, scientific experts, and agencies can produce a robust scientific monitoring program that not only produces credible and usable data, but also gives citizens the opportunity to take ownership in the restoration of the Salish Sea. Specifically we will examine the lessons learned by four Aquatic Reserve Citizen Stewardship Committees. The Committees have worked in collaboration with state agencies and scientific experts to develop three ongoing citizen science projects that provide strategic and usable data. These lessons intend to forward a larger conversation in the scientific community about the necessary role of citizen science in the effort to restore the Salish Sea to health.
