Public Engagement Technology for Bioacoustic Citizen Science

Inexpensive mobile devices offer new capabilities for non-specialist use in the field for the purpose of conservation. This thesis explores the potential for such devices to be used by citizen scientists interacting with bioacoustic data such as birdsong. This thesis describes design research and field evaluation, in collaboration with conservationists and educators, and technological artefacts implemented as mobile applications for interactive educational gaming and creative composition. This thesis considers, from a participant-centric collaborative design approach, conservationists' demand for interactive artefacts to motivate engagement in citizen science through gameful and playful interactions. Drawing on theories of motivation, frequently applied to the study of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), and on approaches to designing for motivational engagement, this thesis introduces a novel pair of frameworks for the analysis of technological artefacts and for assessing participant engagement with bioacoustic citizen science from both game interaction design and citizen science project participation perspectives. This thesis reviews current theories of playful and gameful interaction developed for collaborative learning, data analysis, and ground-truth development, describes a process for design and analysis of motivational mobile games and toys, and explores the affordances of various game elements and mechanics for engaging participation in bioacoustic citizen science. This thesis proposes research into progressions for scaffolding engagement with citizen science projects where participants interact with data collection and analysis artefacts. The research process includes the development of multiple designs, analyses of which explore the efficacy of game interactions to motivate engagement through interaction progressions, given proposed analysis frameworks. This thesis presents analysed results of experiments examining the usability of, and data-quality from, several prototypes and software artefacts, in both laboratory conditions and the field. This thesis culminates with an assessment of the efficacy of proposed design analysis frameworks, an analysis of designed artefacts, and a discussion of how these designs increase intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for participant engagement and affect resultant bioacoustic citizen science data quantity and quality.Non

Designing and evaluating participatory cyber-infrastructure systems for multi-scale citizen science

2010 Summer.Includes bibliographical references.To view the abstract, please see the full text of the document

A Survey of African Grey Parrots (Psittacus erithacus) Trade and Trafficking in

Intensive field based African grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus) trade and trafficking survey lasting 14 days was undertaken on the request of the Pheasant Conservation Group; International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), to determine the existence or non-existence of parrots trapping, trade and trafficking in the Ikpan Forest Block of Oban group of forest, Nigeria. The surveys which identified and involved occupational parrots' trappers as guides was pursued with a view to identifying Nest sites, Nest density, Parrot roosts as well as investigate parrots trapping, trade and trafficking in the light of Nigeria's biodiversity conservation policy thrust and the country's continued notoriety in the international conservation arena . Studies were conducted using standard field equipment like binoculars, photo camera, vinyl flagging, field camping equipment as well as protective wears. 5 occupational Parrot trappers (2 experienced and 3 trainees) were identified and recruited for the surveys as field guides, field assistants and porters. From the results, 5 trappers' stations were identified and explored and located on existing map. Practical trapping activities were observed and implements employed identified. Parrot catch per Man-day was 8 (range 4-12) and price per wild adult parrot N2000, range (N2500-4500) while trained parrots costs N5000 (range N10, 000 - 15,000). During the surveys 16 parrots were captured while 50 parrots (range 110 - 160) were seen flying overhead especially at dusk. It was discovered that trade and trafficking in parrots existed in the study area and beyond with birds coming in from various localities and sold at major cities of Calabar, Port Harcourt, Lagos, Abuja and Kano. Ineffective wildlife legislations have contributed to escalating illegal trade and trafficking in parrots which are protected by states and national laws. Effective legislation, monitoring, habitat protection and conservation education are recommended for sustainable biodiversity conservation in Nigeria.Ethiopian Journal of Environmental Studies of Management Vol. 1 (2) 2008: pp. 68-7

Social impacts of citizen science water monitoring programs

The drive to protect and improve surface water quality requires an array of policies, institutions, professionals, and procedures, even in the face of uncertain budgets and an increasing scope of work. Since the 1990s, the concept of “citizen science” has provided a framework under which volunteers supplement the water monitoring duties of scientists by producing more data and, in some cases, expanding their reach (Conrad and Hinchey 2011; McKinley et al. 2017). Volunteers, on the whole, benefit by contributing to society (Lawrence 2006), and by learning about science and environmental issues (Hecker et al. 2018; McKinley et al. 2017; Phillips et al. 2018). Many citizen science programs welcome youth, but this paper focuses on programs for adults. Citizen science programs address many types of science, not just water monitoring. Species monitoring contributes to biodiversity conservation (e.g., bird counts, whale watching, and butterfly migration), and space science and astronomy programs have expanded (Dickinson et al. 2012). Water quality monitoring is considered to be one of the largest activities (Conrad and Hinchey 2011), with program numbers in the United States estimated from 1,675 (Stepenuck 2013) to 1,720 (National Water Quality Monitoring Council 2019). Volunteer water monitoring has provided scientists with more data,

The value and opportunities of community-and citizen-based approaches to tropical forest biodiversity monitoring

The biodiversity sourcebook is accessible in pdf format for free from:•GOFC-GOLD Land Cover Office website: http://www.gofcgold.wur.nl/sites/gofcgold-geobon_biodiversitysourcebook.php•GEO BON website:http://geobon.org

Stakeholder engagement in the governance of marine migratory species: barriers and building blocks

Meaningful stakeholder engagement is important to collaborative decision-making and to effective polycentric governance, particularly when managing cross-scale environmental issues like those involving marine migratory species. In this paper, we explore the barriers to, and opportunities for, stakeholder involvement in the governance of threats to marine migratory species in eastern Australia, using semi-structured qualitative interviews and a focus group, as an example of the generic problem of managing migratory species within a large range state with multiple jurisdictions. Respondents identified several barriers to, and opportunities for, improved stakeholder involvement in the governance of marine migratory species, corresponding to 4 main themes: decision-making processes, information sharing, institutional structures, and participation processes. Respondents indicated that the governance system protecting marine turtles, dugongs, humpback whales, and non-threatened migratory shorebirds in eastern Australia would benefit from the introduction of new information pathways, reformed institutional structures (including environmental legislation), and improved participatory pathways for non-government stakeholders. Such changes could help harmonise the process of managing these species, leading to more effective conservation management throughout their range