In February 2017 members of PPBio's Western Amazonian team were invited to participate in the 2 day Citizen Science Workshop in Brasilia. The objective of the workshop was to discuss key questions of Brazilian citizen science with the objective of creating a foundation for a SiBBr citizen science program.
Photo by :Natalia Pirani Ghilardi-Lopes
Citizen science has been widely used, especially in North America and Europe, and has shown important results for the conservation of biodiversity, both through new scientific discoveries and in the implementation of public policies. This partnership between scientists and citizens goes beyond the collecting and analyzing of data in that it also promotes social engagement in and awareness of scientific activities in general.
The downloadable agenda (above) details the activities that took place in more detail, but basically the two days consisted of a general introduction to the day's proceedings, followed by presentations hosted by current citizen science organisations. These presentations were followed by a lively discussion related to the current and future challenges faced by these citizen science projects and how these challenges might be faced and overcome by SiBBr.
Towards the end of the workshop the discussions turned towards the need to implement Sibbr's citizen science project in the short, medium and long term.
In the short term, there will certainly be more discussions about the way to move forward. Current citizen science projects will be supported and publicised more widely and their progress monitored carefully.
Below are links to more information concerning the projects that were represented at the workshop.
Citizen Monitoring of Aedes Mosquito Populations
Onde estão as Baleias e Golfinhos? (Where are the Whales and Dolphins?)
Citizen Science Research Group
By Tim Vincent