[LUM#1] The Mature Years of Citizen Science
Long viewed with suspicion by researchers, citizen science has now gained recognition within the scientific community.
They spend hundreds of hours in nature observing birds, counting butterflies, hunting for insects, and identifying plants. And yet they are not professional ornithologists, entomologists, or botanists. What do they have in common? These nature lovers put their passion to work for scientific research. That is the principle behind citizen science. “Today, knowledge is also built with contributions from the general public, ” explains Vincent Devictor of the Institute of Evolutionary Sciences in Montpellier. “Citizens contribute their skills, energy, and expertise—added value that proves invaluable.” A true pioneer in the field, the ecologist completed his dissertation 10 years ago on the impact of landscape disturbances on birds, using only data collected by volunteers.
A gold mine of data
This principle has long been met with some skepticism within the scientific community. Why should we trust observers who are not recognized scientists? How can we know if this data is reliable? “Of course there are limitations: there are errors, inaccuracies, and uncertainties, but we use statistical tools to correct these biases and ensure that the data is scientifically valid,” explains Vincent Devictor. This has dispelled the doubts of most researchers, who now recognize the value of this approach. “We’ve entered the mature phase of citizen science,” the ecologist says with enthusiasm. The proof? Since 2004, the sustainable development indicator used at the ministerial level has been based on data collected by citizen volunteers.
Today, citizen science programs are on the rise, and volunteers are logging thousands of hours of nature observation. This is a goldmine—but we still need to know how to tap into it. “It’s not enough to have data to create information, ” warns Vincent Devictor. “You also have to ask the right scientific questions to extract the relevant information.” And to avoid being buried under an avalanche of data…
Les Herbonautes: A Fun and Collaborative Project
The goal of the “herbonauts” is to create a scientific database using millions of photos of plants from French herbaria. When was the plant collected? Where? By whom? All this valuable information is handwritten on labels. To compile this information into a massive public database, the National Museum of Natural History is calling on the goodwill of botany enthusiasts and anyone who’s simply curious. It’s a daunting task that would take 500 years if done by a single person!“This project has succeeded in transforming a tedious task into something fun that anyone can do,” says Florent Arpin-Pont. The volunteer “herbonaut” has transcribed about a hundred herbarium sheets of Sapindaceae from New Caledonia. This is a valuable contribution for Jérôme Munzinger, the botanist leading this project. “It significantly lightens our own data-entry workload, allowing us to refocus on other research.”
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