The purpose of this group is to support, advance, and facilitate data interoperability among and between citizen science projects, and other data repositories; and, to promote collaboration in citizen science via the development and/or improvement of international standards for data and metadata.

Notable projects include establishing global, transdisciplinary data and metadata standards for use in  Public Participation in Scientific Research (Citizen Science) projects called PPSR Core, building and maintaining a Data Quality Resource Compendium for Citizen and Community Science, and hosting useful workshops at CSA conferences.

The purpose of this group is to facilitate and investigate effective integration of scientific and educational goals, practices, and outcomes in citizen science with a focus on enhancing accessibility, equity and inclusion.

Notable projects include a five part webinar series on using Citizen Science in Higher Education, a thoughtful post with 10 prompts to reflect on learning, and organizing successful sessions at CSA conferences.

Environmental Justice Practitioners Working Group (EJPWG) leaders have helped to mobilize CSA to address the science-to-action gap in research, especially as it relates to equity in science and in community partnerships. The leadership of the EJPWG has provided an invaluable service to both CSA and the field of citizen science as a whole by working twice monthly with CSA board and staff for open, honest, and transparent conversations to confront and advance  the state of the field. 

This 2022 Letter of commitment to the Environmental Justice Community from CSA Leadership outlines a set of organizational commitments to stand up for integrity in science inspired by conversations with and documents drafted by leaders of this group.

The JEDI Working Group is a hub for collaborative action within the Association and the broader field of C*Science. This Group advances JEDI in C*science research and practice through collaborations within CSA and beyond by creating safe spaces for participation, engagement, and expect ethical and inclusive conduct of science by all. 

Notable projects include leading an effort to harmonize broad contributions by CSA members to define Fundamental Values, Process Principles, and Relationship Outcomes for community-driven partnerships, helping shape the Community Guidelines for CSA, and being available to review CSA programs and policies with an equity lens.

This Group provides collaborative opportunities for peer-to-peer feedback on evaluation tools, research in progress, IRB policies, and other human subjects protection issues. They facilitate the sharing of evaluation findings and provide access to outcomes of citizen science that can be communicated to broader audiences. Additionally, the group seeks to understand the status of research in the field and determine gaps to suggest a robust research agenda, which advances the development, implementation, and evaluation of citizen science. 

Notable projects include leading successful evaluation workshops at CSA conferences, curating a resource guide of relevant literature , and hosting discussion events with CSA members. This group also helped formalize a process for distributing surveys on behalf of individuals researching the field. 

CSA Conferences rely on the input from a group of volunteer planning committee members that reflects the diversity of the field. Like much of this field, our conference is supported by volunteer committee members who shape both the vision and design of our events as well as hands-on support with logistics. The CSA Conference Planning Committee meets monthly to discuss event themes, structures, and opportunities for innovations in how we conference. 

Notable projects include pivoting to a virtual event in 2020, establishing structures to efficiently plan and implement virtual and in-person events, and making diversity, equity and inclusion a central focus of our conference events.

*Charter pending approval

Notable projects of this group include hosting eight public webinars on relevant topics such as privacy, consent, and Citizen Science in the UN Sustainable Development Goals, partnering with the Emmett Environmental Law & Policy Clinic at Harvard Law School to answer questions about relevant laws and policies raised by citizen science projects (see responses here), and curating a list of resources of relevant law and policy documents for the field.

*Charter pending approval

The goal of this group is to create, sustain, and advance norms of data ethics in participatory science. This group seeks to actively support the understanding and use of the Data Ethics Toolkit by providing a space for conversations and questions about the toolkit and beyond. They will regularly host asynchronous conversations about data ethics and invite group members to reflect on the ethics of their own practices.

This group (new in 2023) emerged from a NSF funded Grant “Establishing Norms of Data Ethics in Citizen Science,” No. [1835352], that resulted in the Data Ethics for the Participatory Sciences Toolkit. The seed for this project was planted in the Ethics Working Group (active 2015-2021). The toolkit was co-created with input form over 150 individuals, including many members of CSA working groups and beyond.

*Charter pending approval

Fostering discourse and develops resources to support integrity, responsibility, and ethics in the conduct of c*science research and practice. This group currently hosts a discussion forum on CSA Connect.

This group hosted webinars, authored blog posts, planned conference sessions, and curated a resource guide (available here) as an active working group. Group members also helped curate a Special Collection on Ethical Issues in CItizen Science in the journal CItizen Science: Theory and Practice.  Conversations started in this group inspired a grant proposal for the Building Trustworthy Data Practices Initiative that resulted in the Data Ethics Toolkit for Participatory Sciences.

*Charter pending