Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Chesapeake Watershed CESU

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The USGS is offering a funding opportunity to a CESU partner for the research and development of an instrument for the evaluation for science outcomes, as well as recommendations for implementation, including the application of the framework to one or more federal citizen science projects to ensure broad applicability. Citizen science involves members of the public in authentic scientific research; its recent growth and development as a field of practice has yielded substantive new knowledge, successful conservation actions, increasing acceptance by scientific communities, and a more engaged and informed public. Citizen science expands the scope, scale, or nature of the knowledge that can be produced through collaboration between professionals and volunteers. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) recently advised federal agencies to develop capacity for management and support of citizen science when it serves agency needs . To meet this mandate, agencies will need suitable criteria by which to measure and compare the scientific productivity of citizen science projects; no such instruments are currently available. Such information will be necessary for evaluating project funding requests and establishing reasonable expectations for productivity based on empirical evidence of resource requirements. Addressing this gap in practical knowledge will require the development and evaluation of a science outcomes evaluation instrument.

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