Using citizen science to collaboratively research and manage Chesapeake Bay

Abstract

Chesapeake Bay is a complex socio-ecological system with an equally complex adaptive management program. The environmental management community has expressed a need for more local-scale environmental data and increased stakeholder engagement in Bay restoration efforts. Although citizen science has the capacity to meet both of these needs, participatory research is currently underused and undervalued. Additional research is needed to help Chesapeake Bay environmental stakeholders develop and leverage citizen science partnerships to accomplish diverse research and management goals. This dissertation explored various challenges that limit the use and potential impact of citizen science in Chesapeake Bay. Three distinct studies were conducted to gain a more complete understanding of stakeholders’ perceptions and experiences concerning public engagement in scientific research. These studies employed several qualitative and quantitative approaches, including interviews, participant observation, surveys, and cultural consensus analysis. This research provided evidence of widespread agreement that diverse stakeholder concerns should be more prominent in management decisions. Research also found shared feelings of disempowerment across the Chesapeake environmental community. Environmental stakeholders appreciated that science plays a central role in informing environmental policy, but they had mixed perspectives on the utility of citizen science. This research found an underlying cultural understanding of environmental monitoring that provides a foundation for collaboration among stakeholders with different priorities. These findings indicate that citizen science programs can a) serve as boundary spanning organizations that help stakeholders foster a more cooperative mentality, b) allow diverse groups to strategically work together to accomplish goals, and c) increase the impact of volunteer-collected data on Chesapeake science and management. This research also showed that using a transdisciplinary approach to citizen science can increase stakeholders’ feelings of engagement, improve perceptions of a program’s overall credibility, and increase the program’s overall likelihood for impact. The results of this place-based study in the Chesapeake region are also broadly applicable to other socio-environmental systems. This dissertation provides evidence-based support for continued and expanded stakeholder engagement in environmental science and management and offers specific recommendations to support more collaborative, productive, and empowering citizen science partnerships that inform holistic and innovative environmental management decisions.