Publication details

Hsing, P.-Y., Coghill, L., Ryder, J., Austin, M., Dooley, S., Ellison, A., Fenwick, C., Garland, M., Humphrey, P., Proudlock, H., Robson, A., Steer, C., Turnbull, L., Kent, V.T., Bradley, S., Hill, R.A., Ascroft, R. & Stephens, P.A. (2020). Citizen scientists: school students conducting, contributing to and communicating ecological research – experiences of a school–university partnership. School Science Review 101(376): 67-74.

• Publication type: Journal Article
• ISSN/ISBN: 0036-6811
• Further publication details on publisher web site
• Durham Research Online (DRO) - may include full text

Author(s) from Durham

• Professor Steven Bradley
• Professor Russell Hill
• Professor Philip Stephens
• Dr Lorraine Coghill

Abstract

Started in north-east England in 2015, MammalWeb aims to improve our knowledge of
British mammals through the use of motion-sensing camera traps. Fundamental to the project is the
involvement of local communities and individuals who act as citizen scientists. They contribute to the
collection and analysis of the camera trap photographic data. Here, we jointly describe our experiences
as a partnership between Belmont Community School and Durham University. School students became
citizen scientists and ecological ambassadors who took part in research and designed outreach
materials for their local community. We discuss what we learned and the resulting mutual benefits.