You + Science=Better Communities: An Intro to Participatory Science (SPUR)

Searching for answers to questions about the world is what science is all about. And there is so much we don’t know about – yet. How many bald eagle nests are there in Colorado? What will happen to bloom times as our climate warms? Where will a new crop variety grow best? These questions, and more, are just a few you can help answer through participatory science. Join us as we explore questions best answered with the help of everyday people around the world, using the techniques of participatory science (also known as citizen science). We’ll explore fascinating projects from Victorian times to the present. And we’ll introduce you to tools and techniques for jump-starting your participatory science journey – by joining an existing project or starting your own.

Sarah Newman has a B.S. from the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point and a M.S. from Florida State University. She is a CSU research associate helping organizations design successful community and participatory science programs to answer challenging questions. A wildlife biologist turned invasive species ecologist turned participatory science researcher, Sarah combines her love of natural resources with her passion for people to look for ways to build stewardship capacity in communities across the globe. Sarah has worked with hundreds of project teams, from the hyperlocal to global, and they’ve all reminded her of how critical people are to any research endeavor. Sarah currently serves as Director of Operations for CitSci.org, a global online platform for participatory science, hosted at Colorado State University’s Natural Resource Ecology Lab.

Notes

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