2024-04-10 02:22:36
According to the head of this center, dr. According to Monikas Mačiulienė, when non-professionals join scientific processes, cooperation with scientists gradually becomes the engine of progress.
“Citizen science will not answer all scientific questions and solve all problems of the scientific system, but it can find its place.” It is particularly useful in cases where more visibility of the problem is needed, help in analyzing data, when a lot of data needs to be collected in different geographical locations, and researchers do not have enough resources”, says M. Mačiulienė, who also heads the Association of Citizen Science in Lithuania.
The benefit is mutual
Perhaps the biggest benefit of citizen science is that with the help of people, researchers can collect more and more diverse data. However, citizen science is not only useful for scientists.
“For the citizens themselves, especially young people, participation in citizen science projects is a great opportunity to develop critical thinking skills, how to select information and check data. These projects also allow you to take your hobbies to the next level – not only to enjoy the process, but also to contribute to scientific progress. US space agency NASA’s citizen science projects help people study distant galaxies according to guidelines developed by scientists. Citizens have even discovered exoplanets and in this way contributed to the progress of astronomy,” says M. Mačiulienė.
The public can mostly get involved in citizen science projects in the field of natural sciences. Recently, projects related to environmental protection and the effects of climate change have been particularly popular. During them, citizens and scientists collaborate to collect data on changes in water bodies, biodiversity, air quality and other climate change phenomena.
It is true that social and humanitarian science projects are also increasing. People like to transcribe ancient texts, notes of literary authors, letters or records in archives.
Everyone can contribute
According to dr. M. Mačiulienės, anyone who wants to can contribute to citizen science projects – there is no limit to age, knowledge or accumulated experience. Other interested groups can also get involved – business, state and non-governmental organizations. The most relevant citizen science projects in Lithuania can be found at pilieciumokslas.lt.
You should not be afraid to make a mistake, because in all projects citizens work under the supervision of scientists.
“Citizens collect, analyze, compare data based on methodological guidelines and tools prepared by scientists. Also, citizen science projects provide for additional data selection and cleaning tools, which allow selecting only high-quality data,” encourages Dr. M. Mačiulienė.
It is true that the opinions of the scientists themselves regarding citizen science activities and the quality of collected data also differ.
“For skeptics, I like to emphasize that citizen science is another method in our toolbox. It, like other researches, needs to be planned in detail, consistently and well thought out, so that the collected data is appropriate and of high quality,” says the scientist.
The first Citizen Science Center in Lithuania
in 2022 Vilnius Tech was the first Citizen Science Center in Lithuania, which involves the public in the processes of scientific research, innovation and knowledge creation.
“Since the term citizen science and related activities are not yet well known in our region, most of our activities are related to raising their awareness. Regarding citizen science projects or smaller-scale citizen inclusion activities, university researchers consult university colleagues, as well as researchers from universities in Vilnius and other cities,” says Dr. M. Mačiulienė.
During the first year of operation, the Citizen Science Center managed to establish close relations with Lithuanian scientific institutions, which are close to the ideas of citizen science, as well as develop relations with academic libraries in Lithuania. And this is not all the achievements.
“University researchers and the Citizen Science Center team successfully attracted EU funding for two projects. The “CLIMAS” project, which has already started, will carry out citizens’ scientific activities in the context of climate change, and the “DIGICHer” project will encourage citizens to get involved in the field of digitalization of cultural heritage,” the scientist shares.
2024-04-10 02:22:36