Citizen science

WeDigBio's Why Dig Bio symposium.

Three thought leaders reflect on major motivations to create digital information about biodiversity at international, national, and personal scales.  What drives the creation and sharing of digital data about the three billion insects on pins, fish in jars, fossils in drawers, plants on sheets, and other specimen types curated by the world's museums, universities, government labs, botanical gardens, zoos, and elsewhere? 

The workshop is scheduled for four days at the end of January and beginning of February.  To enable everyone to participate at a time that is convenient, we have provided two two-hour options (9–11 a.m. ET and 3–5 p.m. ET) for each day. There will be groups meeting on the day’s topics at both of those times, and participants may join one or both of those timeslots each day.  

Speaker: Austin Mast

Abstract: Citizen Science is public engagement in scientific research. This engagement enables data collection at unprecedented scales to address pressing scientific and social challenges while offering new ways to boost science literacy. See how two citizen science projects—online transcription of label data from historical museum specimens and neighborhood observations of present day diversity—generate valuable data and provide complementary activities for addressing biodiversity topics in the classroom.