Data-driven: Alaska Citizen Scientists Quantify Stories of Berry
Variability in Changing Climates
Abstract
Accessibility of scientific research to underrepresented voices is a
forefront issue. Intentionally-designed citizen science programs, such
as the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ (UAF) citizen science and
learning research project “Arctic Harvest-Public Participation in
Scientific Research,” are poised to improve the participation and
effectiveness of citizen science across diverse audiences while
gathering rigorous data. We selected our research question after first
listening to stories of how Alaska’s rural grocery store - the land and
its bounty of berries - has become more variable. We investigate how
shifts in climate affect the fate of subsistence berries and timing of
berry loss from plants in fall and winter across Alaska. In our
presentation, we outline the design elements and accommodations we made
to enable a diverse group of 1,099 participants in 28 communities to
collect phenology, berry abundance and condition, temperature, cloud
cover, and snowpack data across ages, cultures, and learning
environments. Over half of our volunteers were pre-K to 6th grade, while
just under 10% were adults. Approximately 44% of our participants (479
of 1099 participants) were from groups historically underrepresented in
STEM fields. We present learning outcomes evaluation, data collection
approaches, and data quality per age group. To improve the success of a
citizen science program, find the overlap between a topic of personal
and cultural relevance to diverse participants and your university’s
ongoing research programs.