Recently, USDA participated in the White House launch of the Federal Crowdsourcing and Citizen Science (CCS) Toolkit. By providing federal employees with information about developing CCS activities, the Toolkit will eventually allow the Federal government to design more programs that ask citizens to help us in solving both simple and complex problems.
Now, USDA is excited to announce our role in helping to harness “the power of the crowd” with the official release of CitizenScience.gov.
CitizenScience.gov is the focal point for Federal CCS activities, linking the Toolkit and the CCS Community of Federal Practitioners to a new database that catalogs CCS activities across the Government. This portal will help federal employees design and advertise the existence of CCS programs, and it will serve as a resource for industry, academia, and citizens that are interested in getting involved.
As USDA’s CCS Coordinator, I have participated on a team comprised of representatives from 25 Federal Agencies working to prepare the Government’s database of CCS activities. Here at USDA, we have identified over 20 active CCS programs, demonstrating our commitment to engaging and educating citizens on scientific research that aims to improve our stewardship of food, agriculture, natural resources, and human health.
Through the Agricultural Research Service, citizens are helping to track invasive mosquitoes that serve as vectors for diseases like Zika virus. Assisting scientists in the Natural Resources Conservation Service, citizens have contributed an estimated 660+ hours annually measuring snow melt and water supply throughout Montana, Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming, and Oregon. With support from the United States Forest Service, citizens are monitoring bird, bat, and plant species in New Mexico, Alaska, and Oklahoma. And through competitive grant funding from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, USDA has supported citizen science projects that are tracking invasive stink bugs in Michigan and populations of native bees and pollinators on organic farms in Washington State.
When it comes to CCS activities, USDA has remained true to President Lincoln’s declaration that we are “The People’s Department”. If you’re excited about getting involved, visit CitizenScience.gov to learn about projects in your area, and send your thoughts and comments to @WhiteHouseOSTP and @USGSA using the hashtag #CitSci.