HCC: Medium: Designing Visualizations to Support Public Identification of Biodiversity

University Of Washington, Seattle WA

Investigators

Abstract

Citizen science promotes engagement by the public in authentic science, for the purposes of discovering new knowledge and for problem solving. Millions of Americans are engaged in one or more citizen science projects, many of which center on the nation's natural phenomena, including the identification of biodiversity across land and sea ecosystems. This project expands the data collection abilities of the Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team (COASST) program, a citizen science project that has worked for over 20 years to train and support members of the public in collecting observational data. By working with both project leaders and citizen scientists to develop biodiversity identification tools that are useful to non-technical members of the public. The visual tools created through this project will support volunteers in both achieving a high degree of data accuracy and supporting deeper emotional and analytic engagement with biodiversity. This work will produce a tested and refined interactive prototype for identifying beach-cast marine mammals, and a greater understanding of how people use these visual materials. Results can then be applied to other biodiversity identification resources. This project aims to co-create rigorous biodiversity identification materials to be used by the COASST program. Novel biodiversity identification materials will leverage data visualizations and other forms of visual information to support (1) the accuracy of scientific data collected by the nontechnical public, (2) bridge scientific and local ways of assessing the health of local ecosystems, and (3) scaffold the social and emotional sense-making that can accompany discovery within the natural world. These materials will be developed through a three-phase process known as grounded visualization design (GVD). Phase 1 consists of a context study to learn about the ways COASST participants use current identification materials and to probe baseline values, mental models, and expectations associated with a new biodiversity population: marine mammals. Phase 2 centers on co-design of novel marine mammal identification elements to be included in a comprehensive, data-driven guidebook. In Phase 3, COASST participants will "opt in" to an appropriation study allowing researchers to assess the degree to which materials support rigorous identification by citizen scientists and relate to their lived experiences. All phases will be accomplished through a mix of participant observation, interviews, focus groups, and design workshops, interspersed with refinement of emergent design concepts by a graphic designer. Together the results will advance both the COASST project in particular and knowledge of how to design citizen science projects in general, as well as extending the GVD method to new types of visualization materials and domains. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.