Thursday, August 6, 2009: 8:00 AM-11:30 AM
Grand Pavillion VI, Hyatt
OOS 37 - Using Citizen Science to Rebuild Ecological Knowledge in Human Communities
This Organized Oral Session will address the role of citizen science in building ecological knowledge from empirical and theoretical perspectives, through a diverse panel of speakers from developed and developing countries. Speakers include field researchers studying ecology with active citizen participation in the US, Canada, France, Costa Rica, and India, GIS experts developing community mapping tools online, and ecologists exploring how ecological knowledge fits into the framework of natural resource governance in societies. The speakers also represent a range of experience and innovation, including graduate students, established junior and senior ecologists, and non-academic professionals. The session features 10 talks (c.15 min each + 5 min q&a). We start with an exploration of the role and value of indigenous knowledge in studying ecology and governing natural resources, with examples from India. The next three talks address how citizen science can go beyond monitoring (as it is most often used) towards ecological education and research. The first will share experiences from the Tucson Bird Count (http://www.tucsonbirds.org/ ) in monitoring and education, followed by talks addressing the challenges / rewards of training volunteers in complex data collection protocols for highly heterogeneous urban landscapes, and how Earthwatch volunteers can contribute to urban research. We then broaden the focus to ecosystem processes, with a talk from PRBO about how citizen gathered data improve ecosystem knowledge, followed by another addressing the phenology of plant pollinator interactions in the context of global warming and collapsing bee populations. The Great Sunflower Project marks the transition towards larger regional- to-national scale projects that leverage the internet and web 2.0 technologies, as explored by two subsequent talks. We will hear about how the internet is used in building a new national bird monitoring network (Migrant Watch) in India, followed by an exploration of how interactive online databases and GIS tools can be harnessed towards participatory mapping of ecological resources by local communities. The final two talks are also international: we will hear about monitoring butterflies as a biodiversity indicator in France; and, participatory research by farmers and volunteers joining together to study coffee farming in Costa Rica.
Organizer:Madhusudan Katti, California State University Fresno
Moderator:Madhusudan Katti, California State University Fresno
8:00 AMOOS 37-1Indigenous ecological knowledge as social capital: How citizen science can help us replenish the bank
Kaberi Kar Gupta, California State University, Fresno, Madhusudan Katti, California State University, Fresno
8:20 AMOOS 37-2Moving beyond monitoring: Citizen science as an educational tool
Rachel McCaffrey, University of Arizona
8:40 AMOOS 37-3Amateur naturalists and complex data collection protocols: Challenges of working in heterogeneous human landscapes
Adam C. Smith, Carleton University, Carolyn Dickey, Carleton University, Lenore Fahrig, Carleton University
9:00 AMOOS 37-4Reconnecting people and nature: Incorporating Earthwatch volunteers into wildlife research in the New York metropolitan region
Catherine E. Burns, University of Maine
9:20 AMOOS 37-5Citizen science bird observation data improve ecosystem knowledge in California
Dennis Jongsomjit, PRBO Conservation Science, Diana Stralberg, PRBO Conservation Science, Christine Howell, PRBO Conservation Science, John Alexander, Klamath Bird Observatory, Brian Sullivan, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Andrea Jones, Audubon California, Grant Ballard, PRBO Conservation Science
9:40 AM Break
9:50 AMOOS 37-6Monitoring phenologies and ecological interactions in the face of global change
Gretchen LeBuhn, San Francisco State University
10:10 AMOOS 37-7Building a volunteer-based national phenology monitoring network in India Suhel Quader
Suhel Quader, National Centre for Biological Sciences
10:30 AMOOS 37-8Open source software for open source science: Rebuilding ecological knowledge through participatory mapping
Nancy Jones, NiJeL, Incorporated, Lela Prashad, NiJeL, Incorporated, Jd Godchaux, NiJeL, Incorporated
10:50 AMOOS 37-9The French Garden Butterfly Observatory: The power of a citizen-based biodiversity indicator
Benoît Fontaine, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Romain Julliard, National Museum of Natural History
11:10 AMOOS 37-10Farmer and volunteer participatory research on sustainable coffee farming in Los Santos region of Costa Rica
Mark W. Chandler, Earthwatch Institute, Natalia Urena, Earthwatch Institute, Sebastian Castro Tanzi, Earthwatch Institute, Alan Fortescue, Earthwatch Institute, John E. Banks, University of Washington, Tacoma, Julie Goodman, Earthwatch Institute, Anna Janovicz, Earthwatch Institute

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See more of The 94th ESA Annual Meeting (August 2 -- 7, 2009)