How Crowdsourcing is Growing Interest in Science
This age of social media and interconnectivity is providing more and more ways for members of the public to contribute time and service towards scientific awareness and progress.
One way these “citizen scientists” have been utilized is in the area of earthquake detection, awareness and hazard mitigation. One such initiative is the Quake-Catcher Network, run in part by Stanford University that uses the motion sensing accelerometers built into laptop and desktop computers to log earthquake activity. The goal is to provide better understanding of earthquakes, which will give early warning to schools, emergency response systems, and others.
Another examples is how a team of scientists from the U.S. and Canada recently utilized their Facebook network to identify thousands of tropical fish specimens in order to complete a research project funded by the Smithsonian Institute. They did so from their camp in the jungle of Guyana.
An organization called Save the Redwoods has developed an iPhone app that allows the public to track redwood tree habitats. The goal is to understand where redwoods grow well today, in order to be better able to predict where the redwood forests of tomorrow will thrive. The app is one small part of an ambitious scientific study to build a comprehensive understanding of redwood forest ecosystems, particularly to quantify redwoods’ vulnerabilities to climactic changes.
One blogger and science writer sees several benefits to this phenomenon. First is the more obvious benefit of expanding scientists’ ability to collect and analyze larger amounts of data. This accelerates the pace at which research can be conducted and produces more robust results. A second benefit is better public education and outreach. When working with “the crowd”, scientists are forced to drop the lingo and communicate in understandable terms – hopefully leading to better interest in and understanding of the scientific method.
Could this trend signal a positive trend in an era where science education and training has not kept pace with demand for a skilled workforce? Can Facebook and Social media help motivate a generation of future scientists?
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