Science Communication and Society, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9505, 2300 RA Leiden, the Netherlands.
Science Communication and Society, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9505, 2300 RA Leiden, the Netherlands.
Mar Pollut Bull. 2019 Aug;145:271-277. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.05.056. Epub 2019 Jun 3.
There is considerable scientific and societal concern about plastic pollution, which has resulted in citizen science projects to study the scale of the issue. Citizen science is a cost-effective way to gather data over a large geographical range while simultaneously raising public awareness on the problem. Because the experiences of researchers involved in these projects are not yet adequately covered, this paper presents the findings from ten semi-structured qualitative interviews with researchers leading a citizen science project on micro- or macroplastics. Our results show it is important to specify the goal(s) of the project and that expertise on communication and data science is needed. Furthermore, simple protocols, quality control, and engagement with volunteers and the public are key elements for successful projects. From these results, a framework with recommendations was drafted, which can be used by anyone who wants to develop or improve citizen science projects.
科学界和社会非常关注塑料污染问题，由此产生了一些旨在研究该问题规模的科普项目。科普项目是一种在较大地理范围内收集数据的具有成本效益的方式，同时还能提高公众对该问题的认识。由于这些项目中涉及的研究人员的经验尚未得到充分涵盖，因此本文介绍了对十位领导微塑料或宏塑料科普项目的研究人员进行的十次半结构化定性访谈的结果。我们的研究结果表明，明确项目目标非常重要，同时还需要具备沟通和数据科学方面的专业知识。此外，简单的方案、质量控制以及与志愿者和公众的互动是项目成功的关键要素。根据这些结果，我们起草了一个带有建议的框架，可供任何想要开发或改进科普项目的人使用。
