OOS 29
Citizen Science from Sea to Sky: Investigating Ecological Responses to Global Environmental Change

Wednesday, August 13, 2014: 1:30 PM-5:00 PM
304/305, Sacramento Convention Center
Organizer:
Emily A. Cornelius, University of Wisconsin
Co-organizer:
Dara A. Satterfield, University of Georgia
Moderator:
Emily A. Cornelius, University of Wisconsin
Understanding ecological responses to rapid environmental change is a crucial area of research, particularly as human population growth, urbanization, climate change and other land use changes escalate. However, investigating ecological responses to environmental changes can require vast amounts of data collection, often over large geographic areas and multiple time points, which can be challenging when funding and time are scarce. More and more, researchers are involving the public to measure ecological responses at broad, regional or national scales. Collaborating with citizen scientists has enabled ecologists to obtain samples from diverse and distant areas and to discover novel patterns in a variety of ecosystems, from sea to sky. Citizen scientists can be excellent collaborators to collect data on environmental change in particular, as they have the access to human-altered habitats that are of interest to ecologists studying global change. Importantly, citizen science can also facilitate the development of a more ecologically informed public, which will be central to the conservation priorities that ecological studies are identifying. Thus, citizen science projects on ecological responses to environmental change have the potential to advance both ecological knowledge and conservation, by nurturing a community of citizens invested in the scientific enterprise and the preservation of species and ecological interactions. In coming years, the need for citizen science will likely rise due to tightening research budgets, and at the same time, the potential for citizen science efforts to inform ecological studies will increase as our world becomes more technologically connected. In light of these considerations, and the growing urgency to investigate consequences of global change, it is both timely and useful to pursue the goals of this Organized Oral Session which are to (a)feature how new citizen science data has revealed ecological patterns responding to environmental change in a diversity of ecosystems and (b) discuss effective approaches to recruit, train, engage and retain volunteers, in order to advance the potential of citizen science efforts in the future. Further, this Organized Oral Session may assist in establishing a cross-disciplinary network, where those interested in including citizen science into their own projects (students or early career researchers) or those who are attempting to manage previously collected citizen science data can share ideas and experiences.
1:30 PM
 Bringing wildlife ecology into focus: Integrating camera traps, remote sensing and citizen science to improve ecological forecasting
Benjamin Zuckerberg, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Jennifer L. Stenglein, University of Wisconsin - Madison; Karl J. Martin, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources; Timothy R. Van Deelen, University of Wisconsin - Madison; Aditya Singh, University of Wisconsin - Madison; Phil Townsend, University of Wisconsin - Madison
1:50 PM
 NEON's Project Budburst: At the interface of global science and education
Sandra Henderson, NEON, Inc.; Sarah Newman, NEON; Dennis Ward, NEON; Liz Goehring, NEON, Inc.; Kathryn Bevington, NEON; Wendy Gram, NEON
2:30 PM
 Recruiting and retaining an army of observers: Innovative approaches to understanding ecological responses to environmental change
Jake F. Weltzin, US Geological Survey; Theresa M. Crimmins, USA National Phenology Network; Alyssa H. Rosemartin, USA National Phenology Network & University of Arizona
2:50 PM
 Using citizen science to examine avian responses to environmental change in the UK
Kate E. Plummer, British Trust for Ornithology; Gavin M. Siriwardena, British Trust for Ornithology; Mike P. Toms, British Trust for Ornithology
3:10 PM
3:20 PM Cancelled
 Species abundance estimates based on eBird improve conservation and management application
Alison Johnston, Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Daniel Fink, Cornell University; Brian Sullivan, Cornell University; Wesley M. Hochachka, Cornell University; Mark Reynolds, The Nature Conservancy; Steve Kelling, Cornell Lab of Ornithology
3:40 PM
4:00 PM
 The contribution of citizen science to biodiversity measurements in forest ecosystems
Nathalie Butt, The University of Queensland; Eleanor Slade, University of Oxford; Jill Thompson, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (Edinburgh); Yadvinder Malhi, University of Oxford; Terhi Riutta, University of Oxford; Kimberly Y. Epps, Stanford University; Han Overman, State University of New York; Takuya Iwamura, Department of Biology & Department of Environmental Earth System Science; José MV Fragoso, Stanford University
4:20 PM
 Climate change in our backyards: The reshuffling of North America’s wintering bird communities
Karine Princé, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Benjamin Zuckerberg, University of Wisconsin-Madison
4:40 PM
 Perceptions, requirements, and reality: Barriers to full integration of citizen science in professional science
Hillary K. Burgess, University of Washington; Lauren B. DeBey, University of Washington; Halley E. Froehlich, University of Washington; Elinore J. Theobald, University of Washington; Natalie R. Footen, University of Washington; Ailene K. Ettinger, Tufts University; Janneke HilleRisLambers, University of Washington; Joshua Tewksbury, World Wide Fund for Nature; Julia K. Parrish, University of Washington