Frequently Asked Questions for Participatory Science
How can I get involved in participatory science for environmental protection?
To find an environmental participatory science project and learn how to get involved, start by checking out these helpful resources:
- SciStarter.org - provides a database of thousands of vetted, searchable projects and events. Use the advance search tool to filter for the best location, topic, interest and more.
- Citizenscience.gov - is a national government website, designed to accelerate the use of crowdsourcing and participatory/citizen science, that lists projects from any U.S. Federal Agency.
- EPA's Participatory Science Webpage - is a compendium of EPA's participatory science information, activities, tools, resources, upcoming events, and more.
How can I start my own project?
Before you consider starting a project, make sure to check out existing environmental initiatives that may serve your needs. If your project meets a new need in your area, you can follow the five steps (from citizenscience.gov) linked below on how to design and operate a project:
Once you have a solid idea, you also need to carefully scope out the environmental problem you’re trying to address and what kind of data you want to collect before filling out your Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP). This will be most helpful when designing the methods, impact, and sustainability of your project.
- EPA's Participatory Science Quality Assurance Toolkit includes a QA Handbook for participatory science, training videos, and fact sheets that can help you complete an effective QAPP for your project.
Do EPA and other organizations supply monitoring equipment or funding?
Some organizations including EPA, states, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) provide equipment and training opportunities for environmental participatory science projects. Check out state and local organizations near you to explore their resources that might support your project.
-
Explore EPA's Equipment Loan Programs page
-
Check out EPA's Specific Grants to explore funding opportunities or explore Grants.gov for a listing of all federal grants
-
Visit our Participatory Science Across the U.S. page for more resources and grant opportunities in your region.
How do I learn more about how to collect data that can be used in different kinds of decision making? Why is data quality assurance so important?
Participatory science data can impact environmental decision-making in a number of ways, including supplemental monitoring data for managing environmental programs, and inputs to permitting, screening-level data for enforcement actions, and disaster responses.
To increase the impact of data generated by the public, quality assurance planning during data gathering is critical.
To learn more about how participatory science data can contribute to different kinds of decision-making and why quality assurance is vital to your project plan, check out the following resources:
-
EPA's Quality Assurance Toolkit features EPA's Quality Assurance Handbook for Citizen Science, complementary training videos, orientation guides, and fact sheets that help organizations starting or growing a participatory science project.
-
EPA's Quality Assurance Development Tool is designed to assist in developing a Quality Assurance (QA) Project Plan that meets EPA's requirements for projects involving surface or groundwater monitoring and/or the collection and analysis of water samples.
How can a new project best manage participatory science data?
Data management, including making data publicly available, is a key component of successful participatory science projects. These management systems are customizable and vary based on the type of project.
Many project designers opt to use free, off-the-shelf data platforms such as citsci.org, iNaturalist, and Zooniverse rather than design new, customized platforms which can be expensive and time-consuming.
How can I learn more about applying participatory science approaches?
There’s a number of organizations that provide information and resources about participatory science, including: