Posted: March 20, 2023
Extending the reach of science: why community science is vital
On February 7th, 2023, Riverkeeper Laura Reinsborough presented to the Members of Parliament who sit on the Standing Committee on Science and Research to make the case for community science as a vital tool for better understanding our world and getting communities involved in scientific inquiry.
How does one monitor an area as massive as the Ottawa River watershed? With a surface area more than twice the size of New Brunswick, it is no easy task at the best of times, but even established scientific institutions conducting research will need help to study an area this large. Enter community science.
Ottawa Riverkeeper has been a proponent of community science – also called citizen science – for many years and has been actively running volunteer-based community monitoring initiatives for the last 10. On February 7th, 2023, Riverkeeper Laura Reinsborough got the opportunity to make the case for this kind of program to the Standing Committee on Science and Research. With a mission to perform a study “on the role and value of citizen scientists and develop recommendations on how to encourage and expand the roles played by citizen scientists”, we were overjoyed to share our decade of experience in this field.
Laura shared many examples of work Ottawa Riverkeeper has performed that have deepened our understanding of the Ottawa River watershed, and that would not have been possible without the support of community science participants. Many of these included partnerships with established scientific institutions, such as our 2015 collaboration with researchers at the Canadian Museum of Nature to develop a process for monitoring the invasive zebra mussel, and our 2016 study of microplastics in freshwater environments with Dr. Jesse Vermaire at Carleton University which continued for 5 years. The latter was the largest group of citizen scientists collecting data on microplastics in a freshwater ecosystem worldwide!
“Citizen scientists extend both the reach and the rewards of science. NGOs are a critical partner to ensure this work is done well, and they need long-term, stable funding to succeed.” – Laura Reinsborough
Crucial to the success of these programs was that Ottawa Riverkeeper acted as a trusted non-profit and non-governmental intermediary, connecting scientists with members of the community keen to participate in the studies. As Laura explained: “We are the binding agent to make sure the relationships are cohesive.”
However, organizations like ours are constrained by the limits of funding. Stable, long-term funding for work like this could bring myriad benefits. These benefits include increasing the data collected across large geographical areas, stirring interest in science and research in local communities, overcoming the fragmentation that often happens in cross-jurisdictional settings, and the potential to get a deeper understanding of local concerns from a grassroots approach to science.
“This work deserves not only to be valued in esteem – for the validity of its data – but also financially.” – Laura Rensborough
Working with community scientists not only builds a mutual understanding of our world but also with that understanding comes a desire to protect. We firmly believe that people protect what they love, and through learning about the natural world around them, people will feel the call to steward and promote ecological health. We look forward to our next decade of working with community scientists and hope for a day when this work is given the support it needs and deserves.
You can watch Laura’s full presentation here.
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