The Citizens of Science's posts

In this interview I spoke to a mother of 2 boys who had only just come to #WSF2014. I asked her what she thought #citizenscience might be, and she had never heard of the term. Although when I explained it, she knew exactly what it meant. She said that in Australia there are lots of these projects, but normally they aren't labelled at Citizen Science.

This young man and his father had been to several #WSF2014 events, having particularly enjoyed the events about polar research. The boy guessed that #citizenscience had something to do with studying people, how they behave and what they do. His father was a little closer, and guessed that it was an opportunity for non-scientists to do science.

The first time I had ever met an astronaut! He was sitting with his friend, and both had been a part of #WSF2014. I asked the astronaut what he thought #citizenscience might be, and he immediately related it to "regular people helping with weather tracking." After an explanaition I asked him he had been involved in any, he said no. But he said he was active in the research community already. His research is at NASA, and he interfaces a lot with the public from the International Space Station #ISS. "Particularly, when there's large weather, like hurricanes or typhoons, we'll oftentimes take pictures from above during and after... so I guess I take part in some respects." Outside of his awesome space adventures in NASA, he would be interested in doing more astronomy or cosmology. His friend took part in a genealogy #citizenscience project which was part of #WSF14.

These two young ladies had not been to #WSF14, and didn't know what #citizenscience was. They guessed: "Science that is related to a particular area, science that is connected to an area - a city." After a small prompt to have a guess after saying she had no idea, the other girl said "involving citizens in the science that is going on in the city." Not bad!

This couple have been part of #WSF14, but had not known the term #citizenscience. The lady described it as "something for people who want science to be used in a good way, for example, not denying climate change..." The man said "I hope it generates interest amongst younger people to become interested in science." After being given a broad definition of it however, they both understood what it was, and had actually taken part in citizen science projects in the past!

This gentleman had not been to #WSF14 and had not heard of #citizenscience. But his guess was: "people that live in a specific area, dealing, or trying to work with scientific events in that region?" Which was close enough!

This gentleman and his friend have both been a part of #WSF14. He described it as "empowering citizens to know the basics of science and to feel comfortable with scientific ideas, and to do some science." And for him empowerment came through education. His friend believed it was 'regular citizens actually doing research and contributing to that research in a group effort." He also talks about some citizen science projects he's been involved in

This lady wasn't part of #WSF14, but she thought it might be about people who are concerned about the future. Her friend, got closer, and guessed that it was a chance for "lay-people who have an interest in science' to have a go at science.

We're looking to find out how many people know what citizen science is, and if so, what projects they're involved in.

Please take some time to fill in our very short survey at http://tinyurl.com/PulseWSF2014 , and pass it on to your friends!

she got it right! science that anyone can do