Citizen science projects provide the opportunity for community member volunteers to monitor the Earth. These projects have dramatically increased in the last decade and can provide great benefits to projects that combine Earth Observations with ground-based information in the fields of climate change, sustainable development, ecosystem monitoring and characterization, drought, and land cover or land-use change.

This training will provide attendees an overview of citizen science efforts that use Earth Observations, and how to engage with community members in a supportive and meaningful manner to achieve project goals. Attendees will also be provided with case-study examples of successful citizen science projects, with some examples from NASA supported projects and activities. We will highlight projects like NeMO-Net, a global coral reef classification with 2D and 3D images application combined with machine learning; Floating Forests, a Giant Kelp monitoring platform where participants can classify kelp in Landsat images; Snapshot Wisconsin, a project that uses images of wildlife from trail cameras to assist with habitat mapping; and Soundscapes to Landscapes, where bird diversity in California is monitored by identifying specific species through sound recordings. We will also highlight the Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Program, an international science and education program, and GLOBE Observer, a citizen science app that allows volunteers in GLOBE countries to take observations and contribute to the community.

Relevant UN Sustainable Development Goals:

• Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
• Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
• Goal 15: Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss 

Course Dates: January 24, 26, and 31, 2023

Times and Registration Information: 

English Session: 11:00-12:30 EST (UTC-5): https://go.nasa.gov/3TPfrtT

Spanish Session: 14:00-15:30 EST (UTC-5): https://go.nasa.gov/3GTuPm4

Learning Objectives: By the end of this training, attendees will be able to:

• Summarize applications of Earth Observations for citizen science
• Outline key aspects of citizen science projects including community engagement, quality assurance of data collection, cataloging and summarizing data, and effective communication of project results
• Discover case study examples of the use of Earth Observations for NASA Applied Sciences projects

Audience: Local, regional, state, federal, and non-governmental organizations involved in land management, conservation, biodiversity, and forest monitoring. Educators and scientists interested in involvement with citizen science would also be interested in this training topic.

Course Format: Three, 1.5-hour parts