05Aug 2019 by Amy Slocombe No Comments
Queensland Citizen Science grant recipients

Queensland Citizen Science grant recipients

Communication & promotion, CS Project
The Australian Citizen Science Association congratulates the 21 recipients of the first ever Queensland Science Citizen Science Grants. The Queensland Citizen Science Grants opened to applicants earlier this year and were available to Queensland-based projects actively engaging citizen scientists and addressing one or more of the Queensland Citizen Science Strategy Goals. You can read the media release from the announcement and find out more about the Grant recipients here. We look forward to hearing how these projects progress.
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05Aug 2019 by Amy Slocombe No Comments
2019 Citizen Science Eureka Finalists

2019 Citizen Science Eureka Finalists

Communication & promotion, Meetings and Events
The Australian Citizen Science Association congratulations the three Finalists of the 2019 Department of Industry, Innovation and Science Eureka Prize for Innovation in Citizen Science. We look forward to seeing these worthy finalists on the red carpet at the Australian Museum during National Science Week for the presentation of awards at Australia’s "Science Oscars". The three finalists are: Frog ID (Australian Museum) FrogID is a national citizen science project aimed at understanding and conserving one of the most threatened groups of animals on the planet. Using a free smartphone app, participants record and submit information on calling frogs. In less than two years, FrogID has transformed the scientific community’s understanding of the distributions, breeding seasons and habitats of frogs. WATCH Virtual Reef Diver (Queensland University of Technology) By harnessing the…
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05Aug 2019 by Amy Slocombe No Comments
Invitation to interview re “expertise” in citizen science projects

Invitation to interview re “expertise” in citizen science projects

Collaboration & partnerships, Communication & promotion, Social research in CS
Researchers at the University of Waterloo, Canada, are looking for citizen scientists, and researchers running citizen science projects, to participate in a study concerning how “expertise” is defined and identified in citizen science projects. This research is part of a bigger project called “Networked Expertise in Multidisciplinary STEM Collaboration,” that is being conducted by Dr. Ashley Rose Mehlenbacher at the University of Waterloo. The goal of this research is to better understand the implicit and explicit assessment of expertise that researchers use in multidisciplinary STEM collaborations. Understanding these mechanisms has significance to training initiatives at local and national levels. Would you like to participate? All you need to do is join in a 30-minute interview (via Skype / FaceTime etc.) with Dr. Mehlenbacher or a member of her research team. Individuals…
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10Jul 2019 by Amy Slocombe No Comments

Member Spotlight: John Busby

Blogs
Name: John Busby How long have you been an ACSA member?: Since November 2017 Why did you join ACSA?: I strongly believe that a scientifically informed and engaged community will enhance both the environment and society. What do you love about citizen science?: The opportunities to engage with like-minded people, research scientists and government officials in projects that make a difference. What is the most awesome citizen science project you have been involved in and why? My partner had developed an interest in orchids and enjoyed discovering these in our local nature parks, without any plans for taking her hobby further. In early 2014, we learned that a prescription burn was planned for our local nature park, in an area that is extremely rich in orchids, including some designated rare species. We…
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25Jun 2019 by Amy Slocombe No Comments
Social Media training – Facebook & Twitter

Social Media training – Facebook & Twitter

Communication & promotion
As an exclusive opportunity for ACSA members only, social media guru Michelle Neil is going to be running a series of online social media training sessions to help you get the most out of your citizen science project social media accounts. Facebook: Are you interested in making your Citizen Science Facebook page shine? Learn how to create a Facebook page, change your profile or cover photo, create a custom URL for your Facebook page, add a "Call to Action" button, use Facebook templates, hashtags, "@", schedule posts, activate analytics and more! Twitter: Want to know how to tweet about your citizen science project but don't know how? Learn how to create a Twitter account, change your profile or cover photo, use #hashtags chat to people privately, activate analytics and more. Hone…
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27May 2019 by Amy Slocombe No Comments
ACSA-SA meeting: 6th June

ACSA-SA meeting: 6th June

ACSA development, Communication & promotion, Meetings and Events
The South Australian Chapter of the Australian Citizen Science Association (ACSA-SA) invite you to join us for a citizen science meeting on Thursday 6th June at the Glenunga Hub, 6-7pm. The meeting will include two project leaders who will talk about their SA-based citizen science projects and you will hear about the US citizen science conference that was held in March from one of our committee members who attended. This event is open to practitioners and participants in SA citizen science or anyone who has an interest in this area of research. Here at ACSA-SA we are aiming to bring the citizen science community in South Australia closer. We hope to see you at this meeting. Speakers are Dr. Philip Roetman (Burnside City Council - Urban Foresters) and A/Prof. Craig…
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08May 2019 by Amy Slocombe No Comments
ACSA Victoria’s new look committee

ACSA Victoria’s new look committee

ACSA development
Last month ACSA-Vic held elections for positions on its management committee. We are pleased to announce the following office bearers: CHAIR Kade Mills ReefWatch Coordinator, Victorian National Parks Association       VICE CHAIR Tess Hayes Citizen Science Officer, EPA Victoria       SECRETARY Yvonne Cabuang Waterwatch Coordinator, Melbourne Water       COMMITTEE MEMBER Linden Ashcroft Lecturer, The University of Melbourne       COMMITTEE MEMBER Julian O'Shea CEO, Unbound       COMMITTEE MEMBER Pat Bonney PhD Candidate, Research Officer, Centre for eResearch and Digital Innovation (CeRDI)       COMMITTEE MEMBER Christine Connelly Lecturer in Environmental Science, Victoria University         If you are based in Victoria and would like to get involved in Chapter activities, please don't hesitate to get in touch with Kade…
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06May 2019 by Amy Slocombe No Comments
Earth Challenge 2020: Research Questions to Help Citizen Science Scale

Earth Challenge 2020: Research Questions to Help Citizen Science Scale

Collaboration & partnerships, Engaging citizens
A message from the Wilson Centre, USA: Your knowledge + Small digital acts of science = Answers to the world’s most pressing challenges April 22​nd​, 2020 marks the 50​th anniversary of Earth Day. In recognition of this milestone a consortium of partners is launching Earth Challenge 2020 (EC2020) as the world’s largest coordinated citizen science campaign to date. By working with existing citizen science projects and building capacity for new activities, EC2020 will foster the collecting and integration of one billion open, interoperable data points to strengthen links between science, the environment, and society. In addition to integrating existing citizen science data, Earth Challenge 2020 will also create a new mobile application and app framework, available in six UN languages, to help communities around the world participate in citizen science.…
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