“I first heard of citizen science quite a few years ago, at a Cosmology In-service. The presenter mentioned that there was so much data being collected digitally by telescopes that interested members of the public were looking at these images and classifying and transcribing information about the objects. Someone had discovered a new class of astronomical objects which are now named after her by participating in this project which sounded wonderful to me! So, when I retired from Science teaching a couple of years ago, finding out about Citizen Science was high on the to do list.
When I started searching for something to get involved in, I came across DigiVol – an online image processing system hosted by the Australian Museum. I soon found myself involved with a number of projects from the Saving our Species (SoS) program where I could look at images taken in the field and help to identify threatened species across NSW.
The first project I participated in I was looking for spotted-tail quolls in the Illawarra, it was such a joy when I *spotted* my first quoll that I sent the picture to all my family and a few indulgent friends. I was hooked! I also impressed a friend who turned up for a walk wearing a T-shirt with a bird on it. I informed her that it was a New Holland honey-eater which was correct, thanks to my newly acquired knowledge!
Next came the Malleefowl on DigiVol project, where I got to see the beautiful endangered malleefowl and the abundance of visitors to its nest. I have come to believe that the life of a malleefowl is a bit of an analogy for most of our lives... you scratch around, move bits and pieces from one place to another, your mate comes home and readjusts your décor and out of the blue your plans are disrupted when some goat walks through the middle of your work, or you have to fight off a large goanna who wants to eat everything. Not to mention the seemingly harmless echidna who brings the entire family to rummage around in your nest!
I have contributed to so many more diverse and interesting projects on DigiVol, it really is fantastic.
I really enjoy being involved in citizen science because I feel like I am saving a researcher valuable time and making some small contribution, so it is very satisfying. Some of the researchers send updates about the project or background information which puts what you have looked at into perspective and increases your own knowledge base. Terrific! I also appreciate that there is no pressure to contribute and you do what you can, when you can.
I shall continue to search for something which can be named after me.”