Citizen Science Association
C*Sci 2023 Program
Schedule Overview:


All times listed, including for the virtual program, are in US Pacific Time, which is local time in Tempe, AZ
WEDNESDAY (17th) – online sessions begin at 10am Pacific Time
MONDAY (22nd) – NASA invitational meeting // Afternoon Field Trips
7pm-9pm – Opening Reception at Tempe Mission Palms, hosted by ASU and SciStarter
9am – Workshops/Field Trips
12:15pm – Opening Plenary
1:30 – Symposia
3:00 – Poster Session
4:15 – Talks and Discussions
5:30 – Reception, Movie Premiere
8am – Helio Big Year Breakfast
9:15am – Symposia
10:45am – Poster Session
12noon – Lunch, CSA Groups Mixer
1pm – Symposia
2:30 – Coffee Break featuring AGU
3pm – Talks and Discussions
4:30 – Plenary
8am – “Meet the Editors” Breakfast
9:15am – Symposia
10:45am – Poster Session
12noon – Lunch
1pm – Symposia
2:30 – Coffee Break
3pm – Talks, Discussions
4:15 – Celebration
FRIDAY (26th) – Workshop, Tools for Equitable Research Partnerships


All times listed are in US Mountain Standard Time (UTC -7), which is local time in Tempe, AZ
10am Pacific – Pre-conference Keynote: Collaboration Not Competition: Building Global North-South Relationships For Sustainable Citizen Science Programs
11:15 – Virtual Poster Session
12:15 – Symposia
- Citizen Science Global Partnership
- “I feel less powerless”: Citizen Science as a Lever for Disrupting Environmental Injustice in K-12
1:30 – Pre-conference Meet-up

All Day
NASA Citizen Science Community Event
(invitation only)
PM
- FTM.01 – View the Natural History Collections, the largest in the world for its collection of Sonoran desert biota
- FTM.02 – School of Earth & Space Exploration Tour & 3D Astronomy Tour
- FTM.03 – Exploring Partnerships With Community Organizations at the Arizona Science Center
Opening Reception, 7pm-9pm – Join friends old and new to kick off this in-person event at the Tempe Mission Palms.

AM
- FTT.11 – Experience the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy: Creating a Unique Force of Volunteers to Conduct Ecological Research in the Sonoran Desert
- FTT.12 – Desert Botanical Garden & National Phenology Network
- FTT.13 – Pueblo Grande Museum and Archeological Park Tour
- FTT.14 – Salt River Watershed Environmental Training and Field Demonstration
- WK.01 – How to make the most of SciStarter to recruit participants and advance research
- WK.02 – Optimizing the Zooniverse Experience: Tips & Tools to Incorporate Machine Learning and Different Modes of Citizen Science
- WK.03 – Engaging community science projects in sensemaking and data visualization with FieldScope
- WK.04 – Learn to ‘think like an ethicist’ using the Data Ethics Toolkit
- WK.05 – Data 101: Roll up your sleeves to clean your data. Make data valuable, high quality and reusable
- WK.06 – Building transdisciplinary teams and bilingual community-based environmental monitoring kits to advance environmental health
12:15pm- Opening Plenary: What would it take to really share scientific power?
1:30pm- Concurrent Symposia:
- *S.1: Sharing successes and challenges in producing research with C*Science methodology: 4 case studies in Earth and Space Sciences
- *S.2: Evaluation to Action
- S.3: What Happens to the Data? Investigating Data Feedback Loops
3pm- Poster Session and coffee (view posters by author)
4:15- Concurrent Sessions (session details here)
- *Organized Oral Session 1: Strategies for Success: Earth and Space Sciences
- Discussion Session D.1: Higher Education
- Discussion Session D.2: Community Building
- Discussion Session D.4: Monitoring
- Discussion Session D.5: K-12 Education (educator focused)
5:30 – Reception and Arizona Premiere Screening of Wild Hope, with Executive Producer Jared Lipworth (HHMI/Tangled Bank Studios)
[*streamed for virtual]

8am- Breakfast:
- Your Helio Big Year
- Mentor/Mentee Meet Up
9:15 am Concurrent Symposia:
- *Sharing successes and challenges in producing research with C*Science methodology: 4 case studies in Biology, Biomedical and Health Science
- *S. 5 Exploring the Roles of Facilitator Organizations in Citizen and Community Science
- S. 6: Who is the Community in Community Science? Exploring Three Short Case Studies
10:45 am Poster Session and coffee (view posters by author)
12:00 pm Lunch and Special Sessions:
- CSA Working Group Meet and Greet
[*streamed for virtual]
1:00 pm Concurrent Symposia:
- *S. 9 Libraries as Community Hubs for C*Science: Opportunities and Challenges from a Library Perspective
- S. 10: What transformation is needed for research institutes to support citizen science?
- *S. 11 Level up your data management – make your data trustworthy and useable
- S. 12: Empowering Volunteers: an Exploration of Promising Practices, Models, and Motivations
2:30 pm: Coffee Break
3:00 pm: Concurrent Sessions: (session details here)
- *Organized Oral Session 2: Biology, Biomedical and Health Science
- Discussion Session D.6 – Policy & Institutional Integration
- Discussion Session D.7 – Community-Building 2
- Discussion Session D.8 – Data
- Discussion Session D.9 – Biodiversity
- Discussion Session D.10 – Participant Engagement
4:30 pm: *Plenary: AI for Good: Building equity and shared opportunity through technology
[*streamed for virtual]

9:15 Concurrent Symposia:
- *S. 13 Sharing successes and challenges in producing research with C*Science methodology: 4 case studies in Ecology and Environmental Science
- S. 14 Inclusion, Equity, and Accessibility in Large-scale Projects: Successes, failures, and not-yets
- S. 15 Placed-Based Citizen Science Education: Telling Your Story
- *S.16 A federal, state, and community partner convene at a cafe: Facilitating data use strategies
10:45am Poster Session: (view posters by author)
Lunch and Special Sessions:
- Funders panel
1:00pm Concurrent Symposia:
- *S. 17 C*Science in 3rd Spaces: Lessons and Challenges from a Museum Perspective
- *Co-developing a research agenda for the next decade across the fields of citizen & community science
Concurrent Sessions: (session details here)
- *Organized Oral Session 3: Ecology and Environmental Science
- Discussion D. 11: K-12 Education
- Discussion D. 12: Sustainability
- Discussion D. 13: Health
- Discussion D. 14: Partnerships
- Discussion D. 15: Technology
[*streamed for virtual]

AM
Workshops (in-person and online)
- WK.12 and WKO.12 – Equitable Research Partnership Tools for Communities and Researchers
CSA Board Meeting (invitation only)
Plenary Sessions:

Session details and speaker bio available here.
Symposia Details:
Click on the title of the symposia below to expand the details.
Tuesday, May 23
Sharing successes and challenges in producing research with C*Science methodology: 4 case studies in Earth and Space Sciences
Convened by: Lucy Fortson, Ramanakumar Sankar, Laura Trouille
Additional speakers: Nora Eisner, Elizabeth McDonald, Ramanakumar Sankar
Format: Panelist talks and discussion
Priority Practices: Strategies for scientific success
Summary: In this session, we will hear from researchers who have successfully used C*Science methods in earth or space science to generate data that have been published in peer-reviewed journals. They will share challenges with the approach and how it has benefited their research.
Heather Fischer (Oregon State University); Erin Posthumus (USA National Phenology Network); Cat Davis (University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science ); Alison Cawood (Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC))
Format: Panelist talks and discussion
Priority Practices: Designing for Action and Impact
Keywords: Evaluation; Project Improvement; Data Sharing;
Summary: An important piece of the evaluation process is to properly analyze and disseminate evaluation findings so they can be used to inform project development and refinement. This session will ask a panel to share their experiences with using evaluation results to improve their projects.
Martin Brocklehurst (Citizen Science Global Partnership (CSGP), UK); Libby Hepburn (Citizen Science Global Partnership (CSGP), Australia); Austin Mast (Citizen Science Association (CSA), USA)
Format: A combination of lightning talks and a fishbowl conversation
Priority Practices: Building Relationships and Community Trust; Designing for Action and Impact
Keywords: Networks; Partnerships; Collaborations; Sustainable Development
Summary: Citizen Science Global Partnership (CSGP) aims to advance citizen science for a sustainable world. In this session, we will share the ambition and objectives of the CSGP and gather and connect ideas to ensure an equitable and inclusive partnership, where diverse voices and perspectives count.
Brittney Beck (California State University, Bakersfield); Jesus Esquibel (California State University, Bakersfield); Rachel Harless (California State University, Bakersfield)
Format: Ignite session
Priority Practices: Practices for Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, Designing for Action and Impact
Keywords: Environmental Justice; K-12 Education; Storytelling
Summary: This session will share the results of a year-long environmental justice citizen science fellowship for high school students in the San Joaquin Valley of California. The students’ audio, video, and photographic stories of place offer insight into citizen science opportunities and needs in K-12 ed.
Wednesday, May 24- Morning Sessions
Convened by: Kameswara Mantha, Helen Spiers
Format: Panelist talks and discussion
Priority Practices: Strategies for scientific success
Summary: In this session, we will hear from researchers who have successfully used C*Science methods in biological or medical sciences to generate data that have been published in peer-reviewed journals or applied directly to improve health outcomes. They will share challenges with the approach and how it has benefited their research.
Todd Harwell (Center for Community and Citizen Science, UC Davis); Ryan Meyer (Center for Community and Citizen Science, UC Davis); Heidi Ballard (Center for Community and Citizen Science, UC Davis); Rebecca Johnson (California Academy of Sciences)
Format: Short Talks & Gallery Walk Interactive Session
Priority Practices: Strategies for Successful Science, Designing for Action and Impact, Building Relationships and Community Trust
Keywords: Data; Feedback; Communication; Research; Practice; Participants; Program Design
Summary: What do program leaders, participants, scientists, and managers understand and care about with respect to their data, and why does it matter? Building off examples of data feedback loops in California marine/coastal c*sci programs, this session will open larger conversations about our understanding of the impacts of data feedback loops across research & practice.
Haley E. Smith (NC State University); Bradley Allf (NC State University); Dani Lin Hunter (Crowd the Tap, NC State University); Laura Trouille (Zooniverse, Adler Planetarium); Caroline Nickerson (SciStarter); Heather D. Vance-Chalcraft (East Carolina University); Lisa Lewis (Florence Community Library)
Format: Panelist talks and discussion
Priority Practices: Strategies for Successful Science, Designing for Action and Impact, Practices for Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, Building Relationships and Community Trust
Keywords: facilitators; education; libraries; museums; equitable partnerships; learning
Summary: C*science participants often join projects through third parties such as museums, schools, or employers. In this symposium, representatives from several facilitator organizations will discuss how these groups can foster diverse participation and learning, and the challenges to meeting these goals.
Lila Higgins (Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County); Maru Garcia (Artist); Jordan Salcido (Prospering Backyards); Miguel Ordenana (Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County); Sam Tayag (Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County); Alison Young (California Academy of Sciences); Rebecca Johnson (California Academy of Sciences); Olivia Van Damme (California Academy of Sciences); Vencel Alfred (Yes Nature to Neighborhoods)
Format: 3 short story-based lighting talks with brief Q&A session, followed by facilitator led discussions at tables and then a share out, with a final wrap-up imaginative futures activity.
Priority Practices: Building Relationships and Community Trust
Keywords: Community Engagement; Community; Environmental Justice; Equitable Partnerships;
Summary: Learn from 3 co-created or community-led projects ranging between environmental justice and urban wildlife monitoring that exemplify inclusive collaboration, followed by group discussions on moving projects to equitable relationships. Discussion results will be distributed in a resource document.
Wednesday, May 24- Afternoon Sessions
Darlene Cavalier (Arizona State University and SciStarter); Nicole Colston (Oklahoma State University); Jolene Bradley (Maricopa County Library District); John Bramble (Network of the National Library of Medicine); Vivienne Byrd (Los Angelos Public Library); Tracey Charlie (Acoma Pueblo Library); Kirsten Crowhurst (NNLM All of Us Program Center (NAPC), University of Pittsburgh); Megan Jehn (Megan.Jehn@asu.edu); Lisa Lewis (AZ State Library Association); Cynthia Randall (Cornerstones of Science); Robin Salthouse (retired librarian; program advisor); Theresa Schwerin (Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES)); Rachael Van Schoik (Science Action Club, California Academy of Sciences)
Format: Fishbowl event
Priority Practices: Designing for Action and Impact, Practices for Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, Building Relationships and Community Trust
Keywords: Libraries; Equity; Access; Community of Practice; Impact; Infrastructure; Tools
Summary: The symposium unites librarians (trusted conduits to diverse community relationships) and the C* Sci Assoc network to catalyze new connections and discussions towards a Community of Practice to share best practices for cross-cutting approaches that broaden and deepen engagement through libraries.
Muki Haklay (University College London); Claudia Iasilo (Agency for Promotion of European Research); Gitte Kragh (Arhus University);
Maxson Anyolitho (Lira University & Mbabara University of Science and Technology, Uganda);
Caren Cooper (North Carolina State University); Sofia Mojica (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)
Format: Fishbowl event
Priority Practices: Strategies for Successful Science, Designing for Action and Impact, Practices for Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
Keywords: Institutional adoption; transformation; ethics; universities;
Summary:Integrating citizen and community science within research institutions and universities is a process full of challenges and opportunities. The symposium, from the EU-funded TIME4CS and INCENTIVE projects, explores lessons learned from a range of institutions and the symposium participants’ experiences.
Nancy Sheehan (UW-Madison Arboretum); Pietro Michelucci (Human Computation Institute ); Amber Budden, (Associate University Librarian for Digital Strategies, UCSB Library, and Co-Lead, DataONE); Jennifer Couch, (NIH National Cancer Institute); Caren Cooper (North Carolina State University)
Format: Panel discussion
Priority Practices: Data Ethics
Keywords: Data; Data Publishing; Data Sharing; FAIR; Data Repository; Data Ethics
Summary: Seeking ways to impact the global C*Sci community by sharing your data? Yes, then this symposium is for you. Panel will cover FAIR data principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable). Additional topics include data ethics, data publishing and data repositories.
Sarah Kirn (Gulf of Maine Research Institute); Marc Kuchner (NASA); Carolynne Hultquist (University of Canterbury)
Format: Fishbowl event
Priority Practices: Strategies for Successful Science, Designing for Action and Impact, Practices for Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
Keywords: scientific agency; participant leadership; participant learning; peer learning
Summary: Many projects aspire to empower volunteers with the skills, knowledge, and confidence to use science to address their own questions and/or community priorities. This symposium will explore promising strategies for supporting the evolution of interested individuals from participant to leader.
Thursday, May 25- Morning Sessions
Convened by: Britt Marie Forsberg, Sarah Huebner, Gregory Newman
Format: Panelist talks and discussion
Priority Practices: Strategies for scientific success
Summary: In this session, we will hear from researchers who have successfully used C*Science methods in ecology to generate data that have been published in peer-reviewed journals or applied directly to management activities. They will share challenges with the approach and how it has benefited their research.
Danielle Lin Hunter (North Carolina State University); Chris Hawn (North Carolina Environmental Justice Network); Deja Perkins (North Carolina State University); Lila Higgins (Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County); Caren Cooper (North Carolina State University)
Format: Panelist talks and discussion
Priority Practices: Practices for Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion; Designing for action and impact; Strategies for successful science
Keywords: Inclusion; Diversity; Equity; Accessibility; Large-scale
Summary: Large-scale participatory science projects often struggle to engage diverse participants. We highlight projects that have made attempts to address issues related inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility and present a novel framework for addressing these issues in participatory science.
Brittney Beck (California State University, Bakersfield); Kelly Albus (Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, Texas Water Resources Institute); Mike Jabot (SUNY Fredonia); Lucas Hall (California State University, Bakersfield)
Format: Storytelling
Priority Practices: Designing for Action and Impact, Building Relationships and Community Trust
Keywords: Place-Based Education; Design Thinking; Community Partnerships; Humanizing
Summary: This session will first share five case stories that leverage citizen science to help connect students to each other and to the places they live. Design thinking will then help participants translate their learnings into case stories about their own places, projects, and communities.
Thursday, May 25- Afternoon Sessions
Heather Drumm (Environmental Protection Agency); Julie Vastine (Alliance for Aquatic Resource Monitoring (ALLARM)); Shannon Dosemagen (Open Environmental Data Project); Colin Geisenhoffer (Environmental Protection Agency); April Sevy (Missouri Department of Conservation, Missouri Stream Team)
Format: Panelist talks and discussion
Priority Practices: Designing for Action and Impact, Strategies for Successful Science, Integrity in Data Ethics
Keywords: Data use and sharing, community engagement, participatory science, data pathways
Summary: This session will explore case studies from across the country that examine the data management pathways that facilitate participatory science data use beyond the original project scope. Participants will engage best practices, lessons learned, and concrete tools that they can use in their programs.
Laura Trouille (Adler Planetarium); Christine Goforth (North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences); David Sittenfeld (Boston Museum of Science); Kira Berman (University of Michigan Museum of Natural History); Matt Von Konrat (Field Museum in Chicago); Lila Higgins and/or Miguel Ordenana (Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County); Sam Tayag (Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, ASTC)
Format: Fishbowl event
Priority Practices: Designing for Action and Impact, Practices for Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, Building Relationships and Community Trust
Keywords: Museums; Trust; Resource Sharing; Equity; Inclusion; Community of Practice
Summary: This symposium further expands our emerging Community of Practice around C*Science in Museums, sharing knowledge and best practices relevant to ‘third spaces’ (e.g., community centers, etc.), and digging into challenges and opportunities, with a framing around equity and inclusion.
Veronica Del Bianco (University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science Appalachian Lab – Co-chair R&E Working Group Co-chair); Nahima “Ema” Ahmed (Science Friday, Co-Chair of R&E Working Group); Tina Phillips (Cornell Lab of Ornithology); Haley Smith (NC State University); Laura Trouille (Adler Planetarium and Zooniverse Co-PI)
Format: Fishbowl event
Priority Practices: Strategies for Successful Science, Designing for Action and Impact
Keywords: Research; evaluation; outcomes; impact
Summary: CSA’s first 10-year strategic plan runs until 2023. Be part of the development of a research agenda to strategically guide the field for the next decade. This symposium is part of a year-long project of the Research & Evaluation working group to produce an inclusive and cohesive research agenda
📊 Data Ethics – Refers to trustworthy data practices for citizen science.
Get involved » Join the Data Ethics Topic Room on CSA Connect!
📰 Publication Ethics – Refers to the best practice in the ethics of scholarly publishing.
Get involved » Join the Publication Ethics Topic Room on CSA Connect!
⚖️ Social Justice Ethics – Refers to fair and just relations between the individual and society as measured by the distribution of wealth, opportunities for personal activity, and social privileges. Social justice also encompasses inclusiveness and diversity.
Get involved » Join the Social Justice Topic Room on CSA Connect!
👤 Human Subject Ethics – Refers to rules of conduct in any research involving humans including biomedical research, social studies. Note that this goes beyond human subject ethics regulations as much of what goes on isn’t covered.
Get involved » Join the Human Subject Ethics Topic Room on CSA Connect!
🍃 Biodiversity & Environmental Ethics – Refers to the improvement of the dynamics between humans and the myriad of species that combine to create the biosphere, which will ultimately benefit both humans and non-humans alike [UNESCO 2011 white paper on Ethics and Biodiversity]. This is a kind of ethics that is advancing rapidly in light of the current global crisis as many stakeholders know how critical biodiversity is to the human species (e.g., public health, women’s rights, social and environmental justice).
⚠ UNESCO also affirms that respect for biological diversity implies respect for societal and cultural diversity, as both elements are intimately interconnected and fundamental to global well-being and peace. (Source).
Get involved » Join the Biodiversity & Environmental Ethics Topic Room on CSA Connect!
🤝 Community Partnership Ethics – Refers to rules of engagement and respect of community members directly or directly involved or affected by any research study/project.
Get involved » Join the Community Partnership Ethics Topic Room on CSA Connect!