Citizen science is any activity that involves the public in scientific research and thus has the potential to bring together science, policy makers, and society as a whole in an impactful way. Through citizen science, all people can participate in many stages of the scientific process, from the design of the research question, to data collection and volunteer mapping, data interpretation and analysis, and to publication and dissemination of results.
Citizen Science projects at UP
Citizen Science is a growing field and UP is committed to widening participation in academic endeavours beyond the confines of the university and raising awareness of the concept of Citizen Science. We have collated a number of projects below to show the variety of ways to use a Citizen Science approach in your research.
Rivers, streams, lakes, and wetlands are among the most valuable, not to mention the most fragile ecosystems on Earth. These habitats are crucial for future of economy and for human survival as well. However, rivers and streams are threatened by climate change and increased human water use, which cause them to dry up, and the percentage of drying channels in river networks are also dramatically increasing worldwide, including in Europe. Because shifts from permanent to intermittent flow regimes represent major tipping points for rivers, with often irreversible environmental and societal consequences.
DRYvER aims to collect, analyse and model data from nine DRNs in Europe and South America to create a novel global meta-system approach that incorporates hydrology, socio-economics, ecology and biogeochemistry in order to craft strategies, tools and recommendations for adaptive management of river networks. Working in collaboration with resource managers and citizens, the DRYvER team plans to co-develop new strategies to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change on these networks.
Mosquito Alert is a non-profit cooperative Citizen Science project, coordinated by different public research centres including the University of Pécs. The goal is to study, monitor, and fight the spread of invasive mosquitoes capable of transmitting global diseases. Due to climate change, as well as significant increase in international trade and tourism, consist of the main cause behind the emergence of new, tropical species in Europe. Invasive mosquito species are potential vectors of several pathogens posing a dangerous risk to both humans and domestic animals as well. In order to understand the epidemiological threat, we need to know the spatial and temporal distribution patterns of these species. For this purpose, researchers of the Ecological Research Center and the University of Pécs launched a mosquito monitoring program (szunyogmonitor.hu) covering the entire country in 2019 with the involvement of the population.
Surveillance is carried out with the Mosquito Alert app, which allows anyone to notify, by means of a photo, the possible discovery of one of the mosquitoes studied, as well as that of their breeding places in public spaces. Along with the photo the location of the observation and other necessary information to help in the identification of the species are collected. A human team of expert entomologists is in charge of validating the photos received and notifying the participant of the result. The scientific conclusions derived from the data obtained with the participation of society will enable the planning of targeted on-site sampling, the good allocation of resources, and the preparation for a possible epidemic through the detection of pathogens in the collected mosquitoes.
If you have a Citizen Science project that you would like to present here, or have questions about how to host your Citizen Science project, please contact us.
