Is it time to abandon “citizen science”?

There is a question that has been exercising some folks working with science outreach for some time. Is citizen science benefiting the citizen scientists rather than just using citizens as data collectors? On its face the question may appear unduly cynical. One common setup for citizen science is large-scale data collection and environmental monitoring. Such projects are sometimes in the interest of the people doing the sampling, such as the UK’s SmartRivers initiative , which recently made headlines for measuring biodiversity as a proxy for water quality. Projects sampling soil in community gardens to test for lead also come to mind. Other environmental projects can be a learning experience for communities. As reflected in this C&EN story about the South River Federation (now part of Arundel Rivers Federation), scientists at government agencies trust and use the data because the federation trains community members before they volunteer. And sometimes, people involved