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Citizen science, also known as volunteer monitoring, is an innovative approach to advancing research, learning, and civic engagement. Although the practice is not new, its use has rapidly expanded over the past 5 years. Attention to citizen science has recently been garnered at the highest levels, with the White House highlighting citizen science as a means of Open Innovation and working to remove barriers to its use in federal agency contexts (including USDA-NIFA).
Despite this recent attention and rapid expansion, citizen science within the Cooperative Extension Service seems to remain fractured. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, New York Cooperative Extension 4-H, and the eXtension Community of Practice for Citizen Science conducted a survey of citizen science in Extension contexts. We discuss opportunities for connections within and across land grant institutions, with community partners and other citizen science groups across the country. Discussion will focus on how eXtension can serve a role in connecting expertise to speed innovation in the field of citizen science and professional research communities. We also discuss ways to use eXtension to maximize impacts by supporting access to data by local communities for their own analysis and use.
