April is Global Citizen Science month, which recognises and celebrates the work of citizen scientists in our communities who participate in scientific research.
Citizen science is public participation and collaboration in scientific research with, or under the direction of, professional scientists and scientific institutions. It produces meaningful data which can be used for scientific research and decision-making. When you contribute to a citizen science project, you are a citizen scientist.
The SEED Citizen Science Hub has been set up to support and grow citizen science in New South Wales. The hub is a one-stop-shop for citizen scientists in NSW to explore, connect and contribute with projects, people and data. It provides many benefits for scientists and data users, project organisers and participants alike, including project registration and promotion, networking and data access.
Below are some of the popular citizen science projects that have data available via SEED. Projects on the hub have multiple ways to provide data, either linked through SEED or via external data repositories.
- I Spy Koala - An app that allows community members to record their sightings of koalas in the wild.
- Lake Brewster pelican banding – This project is to report sightings and learn more about the movements of Pelicans from Lake Brewster, in the Murray-Darling Basin.
- Superb parrot monitoring – This project is to collect important population and distribution information that will contribute to the understanding, conservation and management of the superb parrot.
- Streamwatch - Streamwatch is a long-running water monitoring program initiated by Sydney Water and the Sydney Catchment Authority, to enable community groups to monitor the quality and health of local waterways.
- Bellingen Riverwatch – This program was created to provide consistent water quality data in the Bellinger and Kalang catchments, to support the recovery actions of the Bellinger River Snapping Turtle.
- Community Wildlife Survey (NSW Government) - The NSW Community Wildlife Survey aims to improve our understanding of the distribution of koalas and other wildlife in NSW, to indicate how their populations have changed over time, and to investigate what might be causing that change.
Visit the SEED Citizen Science Hub to explore more projects. If there is data linked to the project, you can access and download data from the SEED platform.
If you would like to find out more or have a project you would like to showcase on the hub, please contact seed.citizensci@environment.nsw.gov.au
Citizen scientists testing water quality as part of Bellingen Riverwatch. Photo credit: Jay and the trees
