CI-TEAM Implementation Project: Using the GODM Cyberinfrastructure to Involve Citizen Scientists in Moving from Data Isolation to Data Integration

Colorado State University, Fort Collins CO

Investigators

Abstract

The vision of this research team is to empower citizen scientists (e.g., students, educators, volunteer organizations, private stakeholders, and the public) in using an existing cyberinfrastructure (i.e., the Global Organism Detection and Monitoring system (GODM)) to digitally collect, input, integrate, and analyze data on the distribution of harmful non-native plants and animals. Specifically, the goals are to: (1) promote the sharing of data on harmful non-native plants and animals using our publicly available cyberinfrastructure; (2) provide cyberinfrastructure tools to help citizen scientists accurately collect and efficiently disseminate data on non-native species; (3) provide mapping and decision support services to less technologically advanced groups to analyze and map the current and future distributions of invaders; (4) educate citizen scientists on the utility of cyberinfrastructure to empower them to advance science and conservation and management practices at local to global scales; and (5) foster a shift from a reactive to a proactive prevention, control, and containment strategy for new invaders. To meet these goals, the collaborative research team will: interview citizen scientists to determine appropriate enhancements to existing cyberinfrastructure tools; identify thresholds to ensure high quality data collection; implement identified enhancements to existing cyberinfrastructure tools; and develop educational materials to distribute to both early adopters and eventual end users of the GODM cyberinfrastructure. Intellectual Merit: Using the GODM network will educate citizen scientists about cyberinfrastructure tools that will help solve local problems related to non-native species and conservation, while appreciating the regional, national, and global aspects of the invasion process. Use of this system will also illustrate the importance of integrating citizen science data with professional data in solving and answering research questions while addressing conservation issues. The open, web-based system will promote education, rapid data-sharing, and information management in scientific and local communities by demonstrating the power of cyberinfrastructure for the synergy of multiple datasets in an open access modeling framework. Broader Impact: This program will provide current and future citizen scientists, engineers, and scientists with the means to effectively collect, disseminate, and analyze data using web-based tools provided by our GODM cyberinfrastructure. Involving citizen scientists in research efforts will also raise awareness, reduce costs to society, and train the next generation of scientists by providing them with the educational and technical tools needed to directly impact local conservation and management practices. By providing these services online, access to these tools will be available to anyone with an internet connection, thus reaching geographic areas and underrepresented groups that are currently technologically isolated (e.g., Tribes). These groups will be able to create and maintain "living maps" of harmful non-native invaders for early detection and rapid response and conduct advanced modeling techniques using an Invasive Species Forecasting System (ISFS), providing them with the knowledge and confidence to participate in a digital society. This research serves as an "umbrella" effort to begin to document, map, and model all major invasive non-native species and to create a forecasting and decision support system that can be used remotely by hundreds of citizen scientists, illustrating the utility of education and cyberinfrastructure to meet this century's conservation challenges.