Public Participation in Research Back in Vogue with Ascent of "Citizen Science"
A modest effort to enlist amateur bird-watchers in the cause of ornithology wound up producing a fire hose of data and helping rewrite the rules of science
In the 230-acre forest beyond steve kelling's wall-to-wall office windows, 50 species of migratory birds—warbling vireos, rose-breasted grosbeaks, cedar waxwings—have arrived overnight. On this early May afternoon their calls ring through the forest in a giant songbird mash-up. How Kelling, or anyone here at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in Ithaca, N.Y., can concentrate on work is a mystery.
Public Participation in Research Back in Vogue with Ascent of "Citizen Science"A modest effort to enlist amateur bird-watchers in the cause of ornithology wound up producing a fire hose of data and helping rewrite the rules of science