JBS-13 Citizen science and jellies

 

Citizen science is a progressively booming approach for research in all areas and also for conservation of nature projects. The effort is dedicated on creating more public involvement in inquiry and discovery of new scientific knowledge, where many people collaborate towards a common goal. Considering that gathering data and analysis is complex and time-consuming when it covers wide territories, citizen science is a powerful tool that facilitates the objectives. At the same time, involving citizens or non-professional scientists is one of the most efficient ways for the generation and spread of scientific knowledge. In the jellyfish research field, counting on volunteers for the observations and records of presence and absence of different species is an invaluable contribution. Through citizen science is possible to obtain data from multiple geographic points contributing to databases records and producing preventive information, for early alerts of jellyfish presence and mitigation tools for its negative impacts. This session aims to put in common results of innovative projects and approaches, which consider citizen science as part of jellyfish research. Explaining methodologies used, sharing experiences and also proposing future guidelines in this topic.

 

Chairs:

Ferdinando Boero - Università del Salento (Italia)

Verónica Fuentes - Institut de Ciències del Mar, CSIC (Spain)

Dacha Atienza - Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona (Spain)