Volunteer monitoring, community-based environment monitoring, community science, citizen science… there’s a host of terms that describe people without a formal science background contributing to real world science studies.

Several years ago in Aotearoa NZ, the term citizen science started to appear in Government documents. A 10yr Science in Society Strategy was developed in 2014, and funding made available for Participatory Science projects. Here, scientists and others could partner with schools and communities to carry out research.

Over the years I’ve been involved in several different roles in and around citizen science, often research-based and from a non-government platform. Many, many blog posts have resulted from the activities listed below!

Citizen science research and action

Researching international citizen science projects, programs, funding structures and enabling policies through a Winston Churchill Fellowship (2019). A series of blog posts summarises the meetings and experiences here.

Delivering a Keynote on Citizen Science in Aotearoa NZ at the Austrian Citizen Science Association Conference (2019). Read the blog post about the conference here.

Coordinating a CitSci Think Tank (2018 – 2019) to establish a network of practitioners and interested parties. Read the blog posts here.

Designing and co-delivering the Citizen Science Meets Environmental Restoration Project for the NZ Landcare Trust, 2015 – 2018). Read the blog posts here.

Coordinating Aotearoa’s first national Citizen Science Symposium (2018). Read the blog posts here.

Selected publications and community monitoring resources

Major, D., and Peters, M.A. 2018. Waikato Regional Council and Citizen Science: Scoping report to define potential roles and responsibilities for Waikato Regional Council. 52pp. Client: Waikato Regional Council

Handford, P. Denyer, K. and Peters, M. 2018. Auckland Community Ecological Monitoring Guide: A Framework for selecting monitoring methods. Groundtruth Ltd. 82pp. Client: Auckland Council.

Peters, M. A., Hamilton, D., Eames, C., Innes, J., & Mason, N. W. 2016. The current state of community-based environmental monitoring in New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Ecology, 40(3), 279-288.

Peters, M. A., Eames, C., & Hamilton, D. 2015. The use and value of citizen science data in New Zealand. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 45(3), 151-160.

Denyer, K., Peters, M. 2012. WETMAK: Wetland Monitoring and Assessment Kit. Client: NZ Landcare Trust