Guest Lectures April 15 2014 Citizen Science Kelly Albus Citizen Science is the use of non professional volunteers for data collection for scientific purposes It can be either a very involved process or a not so involved process It encourages public involvement and education Data can be collected quickly and over a large area Helps to get data not obtainable from scientists or experts Lower costs for data collection It s getting more popular due to numerous successes Some current examples of Citizen Science being used today Christmas Bird Count this is the oldest example of citizen science Project Bud Burst Galaxy Zoo Texas Stream Team Frogwatch Advantages of Citizen Science Universities and Research Institutions o Normally have a lack of funding for data collection o Normally have ongoing research in numerous fields o Majority of the time in order to receive grants you need an educational component community involvement o Proven to be especially useful in developing countries or other areas where there is not much data published Locals are an excellent resource for data collection o Teachers love using hand on projects for classrooms especially TEKS aligned K 12 Schools projects o Normally the best participants since data collection is not too complex o It benefits both teachers and scientists Non Profits museums nature centers wildlife centers o Symbiotic relationship Non profits and Citizen Science project starters both benefit Helps project starters get grants Helps non profits get grants as well o Increases community involvement and attendance for the non profit Projects can be held on site Disadvantages of Citizen Science Data Accuracy o Sometimes require experts to review Volunteer recruitment and retention Data management o Making it easily accessible o Standardization for the use by multiple agencies Project turnover Costs o Both time and money costs in order to continue the management of project as well as expansion for the future Landscape and Environmental Predictors of Tick borne Disease Risk in North Texas Jody Huddleston Why Study Tick borne Disease In 2000 the State of Texas recognized that tick borne diseases are a growing concern Lyme disease is extremely debilitating and fatal To gain a better understanding of the ecology of diseases and that the ecosystem service of disease regulation is important to combating human and wildlife diseases Difficulties Tick borne diseases are difficult to study because we need to know the source of the disease rather than just where the individual with the disease lives o Many time the disease is contracted on vacation and not noticed until later after the individual has gotten back home How can environmental science and geography help us o Knowing what animals are good competent reservoirs and where they live help to know where large amounts of tick borne viruses can be contracted Competent Reservoir species that are able to hold bacteria at high levels for a long amount of time until the bacteria is transferred
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