Hano Mary Clare, Wei Linda, Hubbell Bryan, Rappold Ana G
Office of Research and Development, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Durham, NC, US.
Citiz Sci. 2020 Jan 7;5(1):1-13. doi: 10.5334/cstp.244.
As the application of citizen science expands to address increasingly complex social problems (e.g., community health), there is opportunity to consider higher-order engagement beyond that of individual members of a community. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is working to foster public engagement in science through Smoke Sense, which is a citizen science research project that aims to reduce the public health burden of wildland fire smoke. Smoke Sense is facilitated by a mobile app that shares information on air quality, smoke, and health, and collects individual reports of smoke exposure and concurrent health symptoms. However, Smoke Sense is also generating interest among organizations that are working in this problem domain at the local, state, national, and tribal levels. The interest in the citizen science project at the organizational level led us to ask: What would motivate members of organizations to engage in a citizen science project like Smoke Sense, and how do they envision that engagement could improve public health? To explore these questions, we collected data through interviews with individuals who were engaged in Smoke Sense through their work at local, state, and tribal environmental and health agencies in the western US. An inductive, thematic analysis suggests that individuals' motivations stem from their experiences and challenges with smoke in their different roles (e.g., personal, professional, and community member). Respondents envisioned leveraging both the app itself and the data generated by individuals in their region to enhance and support their existing outreach and communication efforts related to smoke. Citizen science projects that aim to address issues in complex problem domains should be designed to complement the work of partner organizations.
随着公民科学的应用不断扩展，以解决日益复杂的社会问题（如社区健康），有机会考虑超越社区个体成员的更高层次的参与。美国环境保护局（EPA）正通过“烟雾感知”项目努力促进公众对科学的参与，该项目是一个公民科学研究项目，旨在减轻野火烟雾对公众健康造成的负担。“烟雾感知”项目由一款移动应用程序推动，该应用程序分享空气质量、烟雾和健康方面的信息，并收集烟雾暴露及同时出现的健康症状的个人报告。然而，“烟雾感知”项目也引起了在地方、州、国家和部落层面从事该问题领域工作的组织的兴趣。组织层面对该公民科学项目的兴趣促使我们提出以下问题：什么会促使组织成员参与像“烟雾感知”这样的公民科学项目，以及他们设想这种参与如何能够改善公众健康？为了探讨这些问题，我们通过采访在美国西部地方、州和部落环境与健康机构工作并参与“烟雾感知”项目的个人来收集数据。一项归纳式主题分析表明，个人的动机源于他们在不同角色（如个人、专业人员和社区成员）中与烟雾相关的经历和挑战。受访者设想利用该应用程序本身以及所在地区个人生成的数据，来加强和支持他们现有的与烟雾相关的推广和宣传工作。旨在解决复杂问题领域问题的公民科学项目应设计为补充合作伙伴组织的工作。
