The accessibility and popularity of smartphones have made collaboration between scientists and the general public easier than ever. Through various apps and websites, citizens can report observations or information found in their environment, and finally this copy data (big data) is used to carry out scientific research
The new reality imposed on us by the Corona crisis requires us to stay at home and spend a long time in front of the phone screens. Walking near the house "saves" us for a while, but even this action can exhaust itself quite quickly. However, there is a way to make wandering in the streets and open spaces near the house more interesting and one that can also be significant for science.
The accessibility and popularity of smartphones have made collaboration between scientists and the general public easier than ever. Through various apps and websites, citizens can report observations or information found in their environment, and finally this copy data (big data) is used to carry out scientific studies.
Thus, for example, at the beginning of the Corona days, the Italians went out to the balconies of their homes and measured the light pollution in the streets through an application installed on their smartphones. It was a great opportunity to research an important environmental issue.
An international application called "Earth Challenge” emphasizes the environmental importance of citizen science projects. The app was launched in April for celebrations The 50th anniversary of Earth Day and updated in the last month. Any user can download the application to a smartphone and start reporting local environmental hazards.
So, for example, you can take and upload to the application photos of the skyline as it is seen from the window of the house or from the immediate surroundings. Using these photographs, researchers can assess local air pollution and understand the effects of human activity on air quality. In the application, it is also possible to report the presence of plastic waste in open areas, so that researchers can identify which are the most polluted areas and which are the types of plastic that are thrown away most frequently. In the future, concentrated cleaning days will be carried out according to the places where a large amount of plastic waste was observed.
The application also makes it possible to track the population of bees and pollinating insects in the user's living environment. The application uses artificial intelligence to identify and classify photographs of different species of bees and insects found Endangered, and thus it can give researchers important information and help preserve the species. The sharp decline in the number of bees in the world, for example, could cause significant damage to agriculture and food production (this is because of the important role of bees in pollination) and therefore there is benefit in a large amount of reports on bee observations, to an extent that could not be carried out by observations of scientists alone.
Jellyfish, pigs and ants
"Jellyfish in the people” is an Israeli application that is an example of successful cooperation between citizens and scientists. The application gathers reports on jellyfish sightings and creates a map of the distribution of jellyfish along Israel's coasts. The application brings great benefit to citizens and researchers alike: the public is able to avoid painful encounters at the bathing beaches, and the researchers received a lot of information about The arrival patterns of swarms of jellyfish on beaches and on new species that have not yet been discovered.
"It's not always easy to get people to report what they see," says Dr. Dor Edalist, a marine ecologist from the University of Haifa, one of the developers of "Meduzos Baam". "But when the citizen realizes that he too benefits from the scientific research in which he participates, this in itself motivates and spurs him on. The contribution of citizen science projects is not only to researchers, but also to citizens and the entire environment."
The website of the Society for the Protection of Nature Maged Various citizen science projects, which are carried out at various nature sites, some of which are located 1,000 meters from the house. The spectrum of research on the site includes tracking various species of animals in danger of extinction: from the deer population, through the hedgehog population to birds, salamanders and fireflies.
And what about invasive species? Following them is no less important. Fire ants, for example, are an invasive species that has spread throughout the country in the last decade, just like an epidemic, as you can see On the map that describes the location of the reports on them. Fire ants have invaded private gardens, parks and agricultural areas, and are known for their painful bites, which can cause an allergic reaction, and damage to reptiles, birds and domestic animals. The sooner we locate the fire ports and report them Site, they could be dealt with without harming other insects.
The wild boar invasion of Haifa is also making headlines recently. The wild boars' natural habitat is shrinking and pushing them into the city and enjoying its resources. In order to prevent the fear and mutual friction created in the meeting between the man and the wild boars, Pigs can be reported When we encounter them, on signs of pigs (such as tracks and droppings) and the factors that attract the pigs to the place (such as garbage cans, feeding stations, etc.). The reports received so far are shown on the map on the website, and they will help later in formulating recommendations for the problem of handling pigs in the city.
In addition to the long list of apps and websites on the subject, it is worth noting two large and international platforms that capture citizen science projects onto our smartphone screen. The first is iNaturalist, which allows you to document encounters with the flora and fauna from anywhere in the world. And the second is Zooniverse, which captures projects from different fields of research.
Civic science in the curriculum
One of the most significant contributions of citizen science apps is in education for environmental and scientific values. People of all ages benefit from expanding scientific knowledge and the biggest beneficiaries of the process are children. In this era, when students learn mostly virtually, the opportunity to use citizen science as a valuable educational tool can be taken advantage of.
The Center for the Promotion of Civic Science in the School ("TCSS Offers various projects that students can carry out in the home environment, including a project that tracks the sleep patterns of teenagers. The research is carried out in collaboration with Prof. Tamar Shohat from the Department of Nursing at the University of Haifa, and Prof. Eran Tauber from the Department of Evolutionary and Environmental Biology at the University of Haifa. The students document their sleep habits on the project website, they experience analyzing the data they have collected and asking research questions that promote the health importance of sleep.
"Students who engage in citizen science will experience learning through research in an authentic way and not in the artificial way in which science is sometimes presented in textbooks," says Prof. Tali Tal, dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology Education at the Technion and principal researcher at the Center for the Advancement of Citizen Science at the school. "To make them understand the importance of science in everyday life. We believe in the center that they should be active and take part in the analysis of the results and not just report observations."
the post Want to participate in the experiment? appeared first onangle
