Citizen science in radiation research
A growing trend in science is that research institutions reach out to members of the public for participating in research. The reasons for outreach are many, spanning from the desire to collect and/or analyse large sets of data efficiently, to the idea of including the general public on a very funda...
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EDP Sciences
2020-01-01
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doaj-71d46a7eff1049458d718ee210c990b22021-08-02T22:21:47ZengEDP SciencesEPJ Web of Conferences2100-014X2020-01-012392500110.1051/epjconf/202023925001epjconf_nd2019_25001Citizen science in radiation researchGustavsson Cecilia0Andersson-Sundén Erik1Barker Abigail2Hjalmarsson Anders3Lantz Mattias4Lundén Karl5Pomp Stephan6Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala UniversityDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala UniversityDepartment of Earth Sciences, Uppsala UniversityDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala UniversityDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala UniversityDepartment of Forest Mycology and Plant Pathology, Swedish Agricultural UniversityDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala UniversityA growing trend in science is that research institutions reach out to members of the public for participating in research. The reasons for outreach are many, spanning from the desire to collect and/or analyse large sets of data efficiently, to the idea of including the general public on a very fundamental level in science-making and ultimately decision-making. The presented project is curriculum-based and carried out in 240 lower secondary school classes (pupils of age 13-16). The task, as designed by the participating universities, is to collect mushrooms, soil and animal droppings from different parts of Sweden, do preliminary sample preparation and analyses and send the samples to the university institutions for radioactivity measurement. Behind the project is a desire to compare today’s levels of 137Cs with those deposited right after the Chernobyl accident in 1986, but also to study the exchange of caesium between organisms as well as the impacts of biological and geological processes on uptake and retention. The scientific outcome is a geodatabase with the 137Cs activity (Bq/m2) present in the Swedish environment, where radioactivity data can be linked to the species (fungi, competing species, animals foraging), forest type, land type, land use and other environmental factors. The science question is of interest to the general public as foraging for mushrooms, as well as spending recreational time in forests is widely popular in Sweden. In this article, we will discuss the current status of the project and the observations we have made about how well the public can participate in scientific research. Focus will be on organization of the project, such as logistics, preparation of supportive material, feedback and communication between researchers and schools. We will present observations about the impact the project has had on the participants, based on quantitative and qualitative evaluations.https://www.epj-conferences.org/articles/epjconf/pdf/2020/15/epjconf_nd2019_25001.pdf |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Gustavsson Cecilia Andersson-Sundén Erik Barker Abigail Hjalmarsson Anders Lantz Mattias Lundén Karl Pomp Stephan |
spellingShingle |
Gustavsson Cecilia Andersson-Sundén Erik Barker Abigail Hjalmarsson Anders Lantz Mattias Lundén Karl Pomp Stephan Citizen science in radiation research EPJ Web of Conferences |
author_facet |
Gustavsson Cecilia Andersson-Sundén Erik Barker Abigail Hjalmarsson Anders Lantz Mattias Lundén Karl Pomp Stephan |
author_sort |
Gustavsson Cecilia |
title |
Citizen science in radiation research |
title_short |
Citizen science in radiation research |
title_full |
Citizen science in radiation research |
title_fullStr |
Citizen science in radiation research |
title_full_unstemmed |
Citizen science in radiation research |
title_sort |
citizen science in radiation research |
publisher |
EDP Sciences |
series |
EPJ Web of Conferences |
issn |
2100-014X |
publishDate |
2020-01-01 |
description |
A growing trend in science is that research institutions reach out to members of the public for participating in research. The reasons for outreach are many, spanning from the desire to collect and/or analyse large sets of data efficiently, to the idea of including the general public on a very fundamental level in science-making and ultimately decision-making. The presented project is curriculum-based and carried out in 240 lower secondary school classes (pupils of age 13-16). The task, as designed by the participating universities, is to collect mushrooms, soil and animal droppings from different parts of Sweden, do preliminary sample preparation and analyses and send the samples to the university institutions for radioactivity measurement. Behind the project is a desire to compare today’s levels of 137Cs with those deposited right after the Chernobyl accident in 1986, but also to study the exchange of caesium between organisms as well as the impacts of biological and geological processes on uptake and retention. The scientific outcome is a geodatabase with the 137Cs activity (Bq/m2) present in the Swedish environment, where radioactivity data can be linked to the species (fungi, competing species, animals foraging), forest type, land type, land use and other environmental factors. The science question is of interest to the general public as foraging for mushrooms, as well as spending recreational time in forests is widely popular in Sweden. In this article, we will discuss the current status of the project and the observations we have made about how well the public can participate in scientific research. Focus will be on organization of the project, such as logistics, preparation of supportive material, feedback and communication between researchers and schools. We will present observations about the impact the project has had on the participants, based on quantitative and qualitative evaluations. |
url |
https://www.epj-conferences.org/articles/epjconf/pdf/2020/15/epjconf_nd2019_25001.pdf |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT gustavssoncecilia citizenscienceinradiationresearch AT anderssonsundenerik citizenscienceinradiationresearch AT barkerabigail citizenscienceinradiationresearch AT hjalmarssonanders citizenscienceinradiationresearch AT lantzmattias citizenscienceinradiationresearch AT lundenkarl citizenscienceinradiationresearch AT pompstephan citizenscienceinradiationresearch |
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