BioOne sees sustainable scholarly publishing as an inherently collaborative enterprise connecting authors, nonprofit publishers, academic institutions, research libraries, and research funders in the common goal of maximizing access to critical research. Phenology and Citizen Science Author(s) :Amy Mayer Source: BioScience, 60(3):172-175. 2010. Published By: American Institute of Biological Sciences URL: http://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.1525/bio.2010.60.3.3 BioOne (www.bioone.org) is a a nonprofit, online aggregation of core research in the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences. BioOne provides a sustainable online platform for over 170 journals and books published by nonprofit societies, associations, museums, institutions, and presses. Your use of this PDF, the BioOne Web site, and all posted and associated content indicates your acceptance of BioOne’s Terms of Use, available at www.bioone.org/page/terms_of_use. Usage of BioOne content is strictly limited to personal, educational, and non-commercial use. Commercial inquiries or rights and permissions requests should be directed to the individual publisher as copyright holder. http://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.1525/bio.2010.60.3.3 http://www.bioone.org http://www.bioone.org/page/terms_of_use 172 March 2010 / Vol. 60 No. 3 www.biosciencemag.org Feature The first lilac bloom is considered a harbinger of spring. One person’s observation of a backyard f lower may be lovely, but thousands of people’s observations in myriad locations, re- corded in the same way and taken over the course of many years, become a data set that can be used to model po- tential changes in the arrival of spring and what those changes imply. Because these observations can be fairly simple to make, and because large data sets are necessary to design meaningful scientific studies, phenology—the re- lationship between annual events such as f lowering, breeding, and migration and climatic or seasonal changes— lends itself to the participation of citi- zen scientists. “That’s the cool thing about phenol- ogy,” says Jake Weltzin, executive direc- tor of the USA National Phenology Network (NPN). “We can work with the lay public. With only minor train- ing, they can help us collect quality data through space and time in ways we cannot get [ourselves].” Weltzin says the training strives to ensure everyone is using the same methods, because without consistency so many streams of data would be useless. “But once you get the standardization down, a scientist or a homemaker can con- tribute equally.” Along the way, people who aren’t professional scientists learn Phenology and Citizen Science AMY MAYER Volunteers have documented seasonal events for more than a century, and scientific studies are benefiting from the data. beginning with his dissertation in the 1980s. The US Department of Agri- culture (USDA) had funded field sta- tions to provide a network of observers with cloned lilacs and instructions for about field research and feel connected with the scientific process. Legacy data sets The modern term “citizen science” most likely dates back to the 1970s, says David Bonter, project leader for Project FeederWatch at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and assistant director for citizen science there. Current tech- nology makes participation faster and easier and has also greatly improved the process of converting citizen ob- servations into usable data. But lay in- volvement in data gathering dates back at least to the late 19th century. Simple Web sites make it relatively easy to ag- gregate data, mine it for improbable or impossible anomalies, and collate it into raw data sets. And the data can come from new observations made in real time or from the transcription of so-called legacy data sets, such as the North American Bird Phenology Program’s handwritten bird migra- tion cards that document observations made from 1890 to 1970. While the Cornell Lab has a long history of citizen science, it and other organizations that have sponsored phenological observations largely func- tioned as separate and unconnected data gatherers. That’s just the sort of isolation Mark Schwartz tired of as he conducted phenological research, BioScience 60: 172–175. © Amy Mayer. ISSN 0006-3568, electronic ISSN 1525-3244. All rights reserved. doi:10.1525/bio.2010.60.3.3 North American Bird Phenology Pro- gram volunteer transcriber Ken Pauley, shown here birding at Kikoti Rocks in Tarangire National Park, Tanzania, says entering data from the historical observation records gives him a con- nection to birders from a different era. Photograph: Courtesy of Ken Pauley. www.biosciencemag.org March 2010 / Vol. 60 No. 3 173 Feature documenting their seasonal changes, in some cases going back to 1950. Schwartz, now a professor of geogra- phy at the University of Wisconsin– Milwaukee, used this data on spring lilac blooms to develop a model that could simulate plant phenology over a continental scale based on climate data. When the USDA funding dried up, Schwartz personally maintained con- tact with about 50 observers because he appreciated the potential value of keep- ing the network functioning. By keeping the lilac study going, Schwartz has been able to refine his model over several iterations, and now, factoring in daily maximum and mini- mum temperatures, he has simulated lilac phenological responses for sites where there aren’t any historical data. He can also make projections into the future. The rescuing of the lilac pro- gram helped make it clear to Schwartz that a systematic and central way of archiving phenological data sets, espe- cially those from citizen scientists that might not have permanent institu- tional homes, would be critical to en- suring that these valuable observations got into the hands of researchers. and much of the more formal observ- ing is being done by undergraduates, field assistants, or technicians. “I don’t think that there’s any reason to believe that their information is of any higher quality than somebody who’s been watching what’s happening in their own back yard for the past 25 years.” Historically, even without formal standards and protocols, amateurs were considered fairly reliable. Jes- sica Zelt, coordinator of the North American Bird Phenology Program, is overseeing the transcription of 6 million data cards. They came from a network of naturalists, ornithologists, and backyard birders that peaked at 3000 participants. Ken Pauley, a vol- unteer, has found that transcribing the handwriting is often the biggest chal- lenge. He’s a retired educator from the Museum of Science in Boston and an avid birder. He’s been transcribing the historical cards for a year and enjoys the fact that he’s helping make those old observations useful today. The Bird Phenology Program, which is making its database available through the NPN Web site, built into its By August 2004, Schwartz was talking with colleagues about what ultimately became the NPN. It’s both an umbrella organization for infor- mation on phenological research and, increasingly, a clearinghouse for historical data sets. The NPN also administers a plant observation project of its own and plans to add an animal phenology citizen science project this year. Do citizen scientists gather good data? This is the question that invariably arises. To address it, the NPN, jointly sponsored by the US Geological Sur- vey and the University of Arizona, has developed standard protocols for gath- ering observations. It also uses some back-end strategies to ensure that the data it stores will be up to the quality standards researchers require. Schwartz, who also chairs the NPN’s board of directors, says while quality is obviously important, it’s not hard to come by. “What we have discovered is that most of these people can do a very good job of collecting data if they’re given clear instructions.” They tend to be highly motivated to do the job well because the only reward they seek is the knowledge that their data are being used. That said, Weltzin says both preventative and corrective measures are being built into NPN’s data reporting system. People won’t be able to enter a date in the future or select a plant species not found in their area. Anomalous data will be f lagged, and the person who entered it may be asked to verify it with a photograph. Bonter says Project FeederWatch, too, f lags questionable data. The pro- gram also increasingly relies on digi- tal photos. When someone reports an unexpected species at a feeder, Bonter or a colleague in the FeederWatch office gets a note to check out the re- port. Bonter finds people are generally receptive when asked for confirma- tion, and many volunteers have been credited with the first sighting of a species in an unexpected or new terri- tory. “There’s an awful lot of research that goes on out there,” Bonter says, Spring lilac blooming data became the basis for the climate models Mark Schwartz developed. He poses here with lilacs in bloom on the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee campus, where he is a professor of geography. Photograph: Alan Magayne-Roshak, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. The Eurasian collared dove is an in- vasive bird species whose colonization of North America has been docu- mented in part thanks to observations by participants in the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Project FeederWatch. Photograph: Patricia Jones-Mestas, Project FeederWatch volunteer. 174 March 2010 / Vol. 60 No. 3 www.biosciencemag.org Feature transcription software a requirement for each card to be entered twice, by dif- ferent transcribers, so inconsistencies can be weeded out. If the two entries don’t match, the card is sent back into the pool to be transcribed again. Zelt says efforts are under way to collect similar data through contemporary observations, thereby strengthening the value of the historical information. Budding bud watchers Another citizen science program that has achieved a level of comfort with the quality of data it receives is Proj- ect Budburst. Like the lilac program, Budburst grew from the idea that continental-scale plant phenology ob- servations were needed, would require widespread participation, and could engage a broad public. “We are first and foremost an edu- cation and outreach project,” says Budburst director Sandra Hender- son, “but at the same time we want with successive groups of kids. Hen- derson says the data, when aggregated with observations from many sources, will help contribute to climate change studies. Weltzin, NPN’s director, says giving the public positive ways to contribute to the science of climate change helps broaden their understanding and di- minish what he calls the “doom and gloom” around the subject. “We can then empower the public to engage in global change activities,” he says. Project Budburst, though a partner of the NPN, differs from the citizen science plant project NPN sponsors: Registration is not a requirement for submitting data. That means the data won’t be incorporated into NPN’s own databases because, Weltzin says, regis- tration is something the NPN requires to help preserve the integrity of its data. The managers of both Project Budburst and the NPN are watching as another potential boon for citizen sci- ence emerges: the National Ecologi- cal Observatory Network, or NEON. Pending final congressional approval, it will begin construction this year. When it’s all up and running, NEON will have 60 sites—3 locations at each of 20 domains. Becky Kao, manager of NEON’s fundamental sentinel unit, says phenological observations of birds, mosquitoes, and plants will be collected and might answer questions such as whether plant phenology can be used as an indicator of community- and population-level changes in an ecosystem, or how the timing of birds and mosquitoes might alter disease modeling. Most NEON work will be done by staff, but the project includes a citi- zen science component. Wendy Gram, chief of public education and engage- ment, says phenology is a natural fit. She is looking at Project Budburst as a model. Although NEON’s citizen science component is still evolving, she anticipates that technology such as cell phones with cameras and GPS (global positioning systems) will help confirm people are correctly identify- ing specimens. to provide information that’s useful for science.” Sponsored by the Uni- versity Corporation for Atmospheric Research, the University of Montana, and the Chicago Botanic Garden, Project Budburst encourages partici- pation “from school kids to backyard naturalists to day hikers,” she says. Budburst participants choose a plant and then use the instructions pro- vided in a two-page document to get started. Mary Anstey, a fifth-grade teacher at Riverside Elementary School in Greenwich, Connecticut, has divided her 20 students into five groups. Each group monitors one tree on the school property. During the fall, they made observations of the foliage and fruit. That information drives the research they then do in the win- ter, while they wait to document the spring blooming. The project is ex- panding the way that students view their surroundings. “What they have started doing is to be more precise observers of nature,” Anstey says. The project has sparked interest in all of her students, not just those who were already excited about science or are outdoorsy. In addi- tion to honing the scientific skills of observation and data gathering, the students are using Project Budburst as a launch pad for exercises in ex- pository writing (they write about their trees and their observations), reading (they research the tree spe- cies, the seasonal cycles, and climate change), and technology (as a team they visit the Project Budburst Web site and enter their data). Anstey calls this approach “transdisciplinary,” and says her school district has been very supportive of her use of Budburst in the classroom. Henderson says plants are great for phenology volunteers, including young students, because they’re stationary. You can return to the same one again and again. For Anstey, the trees be- come a stable part of her curriculum, and although the students will change year to year, she can continue to con- tribute the same types of data about the same trees to Project Budburst Government biologist Wells Cooke launched a program to document bird migration habits that eventually swelled to 3000 volunteers across North America. The program ran from 1890 to 1970, and now efforts are under way to transcribe all of the handwrit- ten records. Photograph: Courtesy of the North American Bird Phenology Program. www.biosciencemag.org March 2010 / Vol. 60 No. 3 175 Feature accessible to the public, and advocates hope they will help researchers design studies that incorporate historical and contemporary observations. The nagging question, to which FeederWatch and NEON have found different answers, is how to sustain ongoing citizen observations for phe- nological research. To be useful, phe- nological data sets must be collected over long periods of time, and tradi- tional funding sources, such as grants from the NSF or other government agencies and foundations, are given typically for no more than fi ve years. NEON is designed to be gathering data for the next three decades and its infrastructure will be in place, so Gram and others there plan to develop and maintain projects that continue to at- tract citizen participants. FeederWatch, on the other hand, enjoys such a dedi- cated following that people who par- ticipate must pay $15. “They’re paying us to work for us,” Bonter says. “It’s really a challenge to build an endow- ment or come up with novel ways to fund long-term research.” Perhaps as researchers use con- temporary and legacy data sets to fi nd answers to vexing questions, the importance of ongoing observations will become self-evident. But that, of course, will depend in large part on exactly what it is scientists fi nd when they dig into the data. Amy Mayer (amy@amymayerwrites.com) is a freelance writer based in Greenfi eld, Massachusetts. become part of the scientific literature. But, Bonter says, “we publish scien- tific papers from FeederWatch and our other projects here all the time.” Recent papers emerging from largely citizen- collected data include one about the invasive Eurasian collared dove’s rapid colonization of North America, and another on the decline of the evening grosbeak, once one of the most com- mon feeder birds. Schwartz has been able to track seasonal changes from blooming data. “Over the last 30 years, the onset of spring as measured by the lilacs is earlier by about a week on average,” he says, a fact that has been documented by the citizen lilac observations. It’s a conclusion researchers couldn’t have drawn on their own, and it’s some- thing volunteers actually experience, which underscores their connection to the science. Weltzin lists papers about the phys- iological patterns of invasive species, the relationship between phenology and population abundance, and the relationship between phenology and species distribution all as relying on data collected by citizen volunteers. Some have even contributed unknow- ingly, such as Henry David Thoreau, an amateur naturalist whose legacy data from Walden Pond has been used by modern researchers. When NPN has its legacy clear- inghouse fully functional, data such as Thoreau’s and the Bird Phenology Program’s—and even phenological observations recorded by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark during their 1803–1806 expedition—will be Gram says another goal is to de- velop NEON’s citizen science proj- ects in such a way that scientists an- ticipate the data and are ready to use them when they’re available. “Every- one, including NSF [National Science Foundation] and research scientists and educators and this whole broader community, recognizes that it’s great to collect all this data, but if the data themselves aren’t usable and accessible and actually being valued by a variety of communities…that is going to be a disservice to all of the effort and funds that are being put into it.” The long haul Ultimately the dual goals of citizen science are to educate the public and generate data that can be used in research. Some of the younger pro- grams, like Project Budburst, haven’t been around long enough to have data Researchers confi rmed the decline of the evening grosbeak population, once one of the most common feeder birds, after analyzing data submit- ted by Project FeederWatch observers. Photograph: Tammie Hache, Project FeederWatch volunteer.