Our Blog
Myths of Citizen Science: Participation is Empowering
**This blog entry orginally appeared on the website oceanspaces.org.**/p> While the goal of many citizen science programs is mainly to produce solid scientific data and better understand the world we live in, the elevator pitch about such programs often then leads to...
Building Bridges between Citizens and Science at the National Estuarine Research Reserve
**This blog entry orginally appeared on the website oceanspaces.org.**/p> A few weeks ago, in preparation for a meeting with Amy Freitag and Ryan Meyer about the California Citizen Science Initiative, a few staff and collaborators from NOAA’s San Francisco Bay...
Research Update: Citizen Science Capacity in California’s Central Coast
**This blog entry orginally appeared on the website oceanspaces.org.**/p> Through the California Citizen Science Initiative, we’re beginning to feel confident that we have identified all of the marine-related citizen science activity in the Central Coast - that’s from...
One Year of OceanSpaces!
**This blog entry orginally appeared on the website oceanspaces.org.**/p> November marks the first anniversary of the online community - and our community is the heart of OceanSpaces. In our first year, we’ve grown to 600+ members, who are broadly engaged across the...
Bird’s Eye View: Seabird Monitoring Program Adds to Understanding of Ecosystem Conditions
**This blog entry orginally appeared on the website oceanspaces.org.**/p> Like scores of Californians, Dan Robinette is a bird watcher. He spends many blustery spring days hiking across rocky terrain to reach remote bluffs along the North Central Coast in search of...
Getting the Questions Right: Developing Interview Techniques to Understand Science Needs
**This blog entry orginally appeared on the website oceanspaces.org.**/p> One of the more encouraging aspects of working in the boundary between science and decision making is hearing scientists increasingly express the desire for their research to more effectively...
Myths of Citizen Science: Education and Science Goals are Always a Tradeoff
**This blog entry orginally appeared on the website oceanspaces.org.**/p> If the goal of citizen science is at least partially to educate volunteers about the subject at hand, then how can you expect new volunteers to take good data? This chicken-and-egg conundrum...
Creating Beneficially Mutual Links Between Citizen Science and Ocean and Coastal Resources: Insights from the CERF 2013 workshop
**This blog entry orginally appeared on the website oceanspaces.org.**/p> Last week we kicked off the Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation with a workshop to wrap our minds around the ways citizen science can and does contribute to the science and management of...
Icky Bugs and Slimy Slugs: Fears in Citizen Science – the Halloween Special
**This blog entry orginally appeared on the website oceanspaces.org.**/p> Picture a kid, first or second grade, with his head buried in an unweildy bush seeking a picture of a beetle. He’s so excited about said beetle that he’s practically upside-down, branches...
Question: What are the best strategies for recruitment and retention in citizen science?
**This blog entry orginally appeared on the website oceanspaces.org.**/p> Throughout many of the conversations we hold with coordinators of citizen science programs, the challenge of maintaining an active volunteer base arises. However, within citizen science...
North Coast Partnerships Continue to Hold Promise for the Future
**This blog entry orginally appeared on the website oceanspaces.org.**/p> It’s no secret that California’s marine protected area (MPA) process was rooted in collaboration among ocean lovers of all walks of life; it was one of the key hallmarks of its success. On the...
An Ocean Action Plan of Cultural Significance’ California Central Coast Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary
**This blog entry orginally appeared on the website oceanspaces.org.**/p> The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) expressed a goal of maintaining and creating " conditions under which man and nature can exist in productive harmony , and fulfill the...