‘Citizen science’ is a growing method of data collection possessing untapped potential in the scientific community and general public. The idea was first used in January 1989 in a piece published by MIT Technology Review. Since then, the idea has been used by all kinds of scientists but they follow a common theme of community involvement in scientific experiments. This often involves citizens performing data collection and collaborating with the scientific community to study phenomena that interests or affects them. This can produce two major benefits for both the public and scientists. First, building collaboration and trust between the scientific community and local citizens. Secondly, the public becomes more familiar with scientific methods. In the case of citizen science projects focused on local conservation, this can inspire and inform the public about making more climate-friendly decisions and actions. At a time when the scientific field is constantly facing issues of misinformation, this trust could go a long way in debunking potentially harmful falsehoods. The Dayton community already has a number of existing citizen science projects to get involved in. Local parks departments, like the Five Rivers MetroParks, have projects tracking local plants and animals and there are even apps such as iNaturalist that utilize citizen science on a larger scale. The Marianist Environmental Educational Center currently has two projects that are looking for citizen data: Project Feeder Watch, which tracks winter bird populations, and their Butterfly Monitoring project which tracks butterfly populations from April to October. These projects make great family activities while encouraging scientific exploration and providing valuable information to your community.
- Thomas Hensley, Bellbrook
In the recent article “85M in federal funds to benefit child care centers” left a big question in my mind. The article stated that existing child care centers have only one week to submit requests to access these funds. Why? Is this the first the centers have been aware of the dollars? I certainly hope that is not the case. This should be cleared up in a follow-up piece. The article stated that the funds are from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. However the article should have mentioned that all GOP members in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives voted “Nay” opposing this bill and that all Democrat members voted “Yea” in favor of the bill. This is important especially in this election year when so many legislators tend to campaign on monies benefiting their constituencies from legislation they had in fact opposed.
- Jack Rowlands, Englewood