Citizen Science and Sea Turtle Conservation: Critical Perspectives from Social Studies of Science

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This research is a collaboration between Duke University, Nicholas School of Environment and Earth Sciences, and the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC). It examines the relationship between volunteers collecting data on sea turtles as part of the North Carolina Sea Turtle Project, and the scientific and bureaucratic establishment to which they contribute this information.Intellectual merit. The intellectual contribution arises from the critical questions addressed regarding: 1) the nature of knowledge (e.g. how certain knowledge is established as legitimate), 2) possibilities for democratizing science and how such democratization might improve science-society relationships, 3) if and how citizen scientists are empowered by participating and the impacts of such empowerment on environmental activities; and 4) theoretical understanding of science-society relationships and the meaning of citizenship. The research draws on the concept of 'citizen science,' a term referring both to a science that meets the needs of citizens and to a science developed and enacted by citizens. The proposed study bridges two approaches to citizen science: the critical theoretical approach of Science and Technology Studies (STS) (concerned with theories of knowledge and science-society relationships) and the pragmatic approach dominant in conservation literature (concerned with volunteer motives for participating and with data quality). Using the North Carolina Sea Turtle Project as a case study, the research will examine volunteers empowered by mandates from, and who are necessary to, resource management agencies. While pragmatic concerns will be addressed, the research will consider the extent to which the case study can be understood as a type of citizen science in the tradition of STS. However, while STS has typically focused on citizen groups that form in opposition to environmental risk (e.g. nuclear technology), this research examines citizens who are invited to participate. Thus, it will examine the meaning of science and citizenship when citizens engage with science in the absence of protest, and where the relationship between citizens and resource managers is less dichotomized and more nuanced. This new approach, one that brings a critical perspective to a case normally assessed from a pragmatic perspective, represents an important intellectual contribution of the research.Broader Impacts. The broader impacts of this research include graduate student training, and networking amongst university researchers, state resource managers, and volunteer organizations and individuals. In terms of graduate student training, 4 graduate research assistants (1 PhD, 3 Masters students) will be members of the research team, assisting in the design and execution of data collection, analysis, and presentation. Ideally, they will identify related sub-components of the project that will lead to PhD or Masters level projects. In terms of networking, the formalized partnership between Duke University and the NCWRC will contribute to the project's broader impacts in the following ways: 1) NCWRC is interested how research results can strengthen their work with volunteers, and the agency's formal participation ensures results will be attended to; 2) the partnership enhances the potential that sea turtle volunteers -- people who normally operate outside of academic circles -- will engage with the research in its early stages, and have input into research design and access to results. An important goal of the project is to produce results that are not only intellectually important, but meaningful to the volunteers themselves (e.g., by documenting and thereby recognizing their contributions). Results will also be meaningful beyond the case study, as they are potentially relevant to the many organizations worldwide that use volunteer labor on sea turtle conservation projects. Furthermore, while the focus on sea turtles is warranted due to their status (listed under the Endangered Species Act) and to widespread public interest in their conservation, results may be of interest to citizen groups and management agencies working with other species. As basic data collection on natural resources is increasingly undertaken outside of government agencies and often by citizen groups, understanding the relationship between the two, particularly when the relationship is cooperative rather than confrontational, is of broad significance for environmental management in general, and to understanding science-society relationships.