Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Joan Miller
December 8, 2017
The California Academy of Sciences (CAS), located in San Francisco’s Golden Gate
Park, employs a team of two scientists who coordinate the academy’s citizen science initiatives.
Citizen science is a global movement through which scientists and non-scientists alike make
observations of flora and fauna, and collect data to help answer some of our planet’s most
pressing questions. As part of this initiative, the academy conducts several yearly bioblitzes: a
gathering of scientists, citizen scientists, land managers, teachers, families and more, working
together to find and identify as many different species as possible, all in one day. With the
increasing popularity and frequency of bioblitz events, this small team at the academy needs a
streamlined way to train volunteer coordinators to plan and run the events in their local
particular bioblitz event, Snapshot Cal Coast, which documents coastal biodiversity along the
California Coast, with an emphasis on intertidal zones in marine protected areas (MPAs).
The asynchronous e-learning course described in the following pages details an approach
to training volunteer coordinators to successfully run Snapshot Cal Coast events. Coordinators
will take this course prior to a follow-up webinar with the CAS citizen science team to answer
any remaining questions. The team enjoys engaging in some webinars, but would like to be
more targeted in what they spend time teaching, and hope that this course will significantly
reduce training time given that the team has many other work responsibilities and very limited
funding for their citizen science initiatives. CAS also anticipates that this training will help
volunteer coordinators to feel more confident about running their own bioblitz events without
CAS staff being present. There are no pressing time constraints. The next Snapshot Cal Coast
TRAINING CITIZEN SCIENCE COORDINATORS FOR BIOBLITZ EVENTS 3
event will be held in June of 2018, and since CSUMB MIST students will not yet have finished
relevant capstone courses by then, the final version of this course will not be utilized until the
training begins for the 2019 event. The only perceived constraint is a lack of resources, as there
Analysis
Needs Assessment
The California Academy of Sciences began coordinating bioblitzes in 2013. During the
past five years they’ve worked with over 1000 participants who together have made more than
35,000 observations of 2300 species. Snapshot Cal Coast is a subset of their overall bioblitz
efforts that began in 2016, yet in its first two years alone there were over 85 total events. The
CAS citizen science team also consults and trains coordinators on many additional events.
Successfully planning this many events with this number of participants requires a well-trained
pool of volunteer coordinators. Though there are some coordinators that return yearly, there are
many new coordinators that must be trained for each event. Even those who are returning may
need to brush up on the required skills, updated species lists, and new technologies required to
successfully plan and run a bioblitz. CAS finds that they are spending an inordinate amount of
time on phone calls and webinars training volunteer coordinators, and that despite training
efforts, the citizen science team is often asked questions on the day of an event about how to
Well trained coordinators are essential because CAS representatives are unable to be
present at all of the Snapshot Cal Coast events. For example, this year out of about 60 events that
took place in one week, CAS was only present at 15 of them. CAS would like the coordinators to
TRAINING CITIZEN SCIENCE COORDINATORS FOR BIOBLITZ EVENTS 4
be more self-sufficient in running bioblitz events, including choosing a site, recruiting citizen
volunteers, training their volunteers, coordinating the event, recording accurate field
observations, and the ability to explain the significance of collected data. We’d also like to
consolidate the training into a single online course to increase access to widely dispersed
learners, to make the training available on an as-needed basis, to speed up training time, and
increase the shareability of resources. Though not the primary goal, the online course and
website may incidentally be used as a tool to recruit people who have not yet participated in or
lead bioblitzes before, but who are curious about them and potentially interested in adopting a
The performance gap that causes long webinar training sessions and difficulties on the
day of the events is mainly due to a lack of knowledge and skills on the part of the volunteer
coordinators. New coordinators must learn many details about how to set up and run a bioblitz
event. Volunteers may not have an adequate science background to be able to successfully
identify species, or to put the significance of the data into context. All coordinators must be
trained on how to use iNaturalist, a social network, website and app that is used for collecting
and sharing biological data from citizen scientists worldwide, and is the data collection hub for
Snapshot Cal Coast. The platform has changed somewhat over the years and become easier to
use, but return coordinators must be updated on functionality changes each year. Coordinators
must also learn naturalist skills such as where to locate species, how to identify them and how to
photograph them. The citizen science team loves what they do and is thrilled with their success
at involving the public in conservation issues and research. There is no lack of motivation on
their part to improve upon their training methods, however constraints still exist due to lack of
Interviews with the CAS citizen science team provided the information necessary for this
assessment. Zoom videos of past webinar trainings for Snapshot Cal Coast were reviewed,
which provided additional information on the learner audience and what stumbling blocks and
other issues were encountered during the calls. In future design phases, past volunteer
coordinators will fill out an online survey about their training experiences, followed by a few
targeted follow-up phone conversations to clarify results from the survey. The focus will be to
hear from the learners themselves what difficulties they’ve had not just with the training, but in
transferring what they learned to training their own volunteers, and to the actual field events
themselves.
A review of literature and scholarly articles about the history, current practice and
relevance of citizen science provided a useful context for this training. Some of this background
material will be provided on the training website for informational purposes, but it is not an
instructional component.
A training website with an embedded learning module will be developed for the learners
to initiate (or remind) them how to run a successful bioblitz, including: how to recruit and
motivate local volunteers, how to train volunteers to make scientific observations, how to pick a
field site, a review of coastal ecology, how to use iNaturalist to record and share observations,
how to help volunteers identify species, how to find and recruit other potential partners and team
leaders, how to promote your event using social media, how to run the event and what gear is
The main organizational goal for this training is to save time on the part of the citizen
science team at the California Academy, whose budgets and time are stretched to the limit with
multiple projects and their own scientific research. As a part of the academy’s overall scientific
and conservation goals, these scientists would also like to improve the quality, participation in,
Learners who participate in this training and volunteer at a Snapshot Cal Coast event, or
really in any citizen science effort, have an opportunity to perform real, meaningful scientific
observations. This training will show them firsthand what happens to the data they collect, how
scientists use the data to understand how species ranges are changing over time, and how that
information helps them to create policy changes that protect the natural world. Scientists cannot
do this work alone, there simply is not enough manpower, nor resources to pay for the collection
of this much data (Cohn, 2008). Working together, we can learn a lot more about our coast.
Through our training for and participation in the Snapshot Cal Coast program, our volunteer
coordinators will learn to connect people of all backgrounds to the outdoors, and to inspire
everyone to protect biodiversity while at the same time generating invaluable data that scientists
Learner Analysis
Members of the citizen science department at the California Academy of Sciences were
interviewed about their primary audience, the volunteer coordinators (learners). They are a mix
of parks interpreters, docent coordinators, professors, educators, tribal leaders, Audubon Society
TRAINING CITIZEN SCIENCE COORDINATORS FOR BIOBLITZ EVENTS 7
leaders, activists, students, advocacy organization leaders, and volunteer coordinators for other
organizations. The learners are primarily college-educated professionals and many of them work
for non-profits that focus on marine science education. Many have strong connections to the
California coast and oceans, protecting them and teaching people about them, but they do not all
have science backgrounds. Though it is generally preferable that the volunteer coordinators have
some marine science background, no prerequisite skills, knowledge or abilities are expected of
our target audience. Many coordinators return to attend multiple bioblitz events, so this primary
audience is comprised of both new and experienced coordinators, but CAS has determined that
both groups can benefit equally from the same online training intervention. One reason for this
is that return coordinators sometimes need to brush up on the skills we are teaching new
coordinators, or may need to learn about newly updated “most wanted species lists,” and/or
changes to the iNaturalist platform. The other reason is that the CAS citizen science team does
not historically delineate between these groups in their trainings, and doesn’t intend to. This is a
more casual training, since most bioblitz coordinators are unpaid, there is no monetary gain
involved in this effort, nor high stakes for a lack of mastery of this skill set.
A secondary group of learners was identified, that is, the volunteers, which we will call
“participants” in order to avoid confusing them with the volunteer coordinators. Participants are
usually somewhat science literate, since most groups mobilize from a known pool of community
volunteers that enjoy nature and ecology. There is a wide range of ages in this pool, with most
older than 40. At this point it is unclear whether we will be able to include specific training for
the participants in this learning module, given the time constraints of the module itself, and the
fact that most participants join the effort on the day of the event, rather than attending training
sessions prior to the event. Nevertheless, it is our intent that some portions of this module be
TRAINING CITIZEN SCIENCE COORDINATORS FOR BIOBLITZ EVENTS 8
adaptable for use by volunteer coordinators to train participants if they should choose on their
Coordinators and participants at bioblitz events are typically interested in science, love
their local coastline and marine protected areas, and are devoted to helping the public to better
understand the need to protect biodiversity, so motivation is high. Also, bioblitz events typically
take place over a 24 to 48-hour period so it’s a high energy, highly concentrated event which
most find to be very motivating. All learners have observation skills, but need some
encouragement to use them. Many Snapshot Cal Coast volunteers and participants have coastal
ecology experience, and most have phones or cameras to record observations with, but they need
iNaturalist training, as well as training to improve their intertidal exploration skills. Coordinators
who are not familiar with the scientific process, data collection or marine ecology will need to
learn more about those subjects prior to collecting data in the field.
Context Analysis
Interviews with the citizen science team at CAS made it clear that an asynchronous e-
learning design is the only viable way to deliver this training due to the disbursement of the
learners, and the benefit of allowing volunteer coordinators to train when and where they want
organizations, and teachers with students, and the leaders of those groups may choose to conduct
a learning session with their coordinators and participants as best fits their organization’s
schedule. Learners will need to have access to a computer and the internet to take the training, as
well as for the follow-up webinar to discuss any remaining issues. The citizen science team has
not found computer access to be a problem in the past. There will be from 15 to 25 coordinators,
and anywhere from 50 to 100 or more participants during the next Snapshot Cal Coast event this
TRAINING CITIZEN SCIENCE COORDINATORS FOR BIOBLITZ EVENTS 9
summer. The coordinator’s site locations are located up and down the California coast, with
events typically happening in the following counties and regions: Del Norte, Humboldt, Sonoma,
Marin, San Francisco Bay Area, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Santa
Content Analysis
This e-learning module is required by CSUMB to take one hour for the user to complete. An
hour is also a good length of time for engaging our audience without overwhelming them. Given
this one hour timeframe, we narrowed down the training to these essential topics:
in a bioblitz / citizen science effort, and how should they communicate that to their
participants?
3. How to be an Effective Naturalist: what species to look for, where to find them, and how
4. A Day in the Life of a Bioblitz: what to expect, how to plan for it, how to publicize the
event.
This learning intervention is a bit unusual in that it is not mandated by any authority, nor is it tied
to safety regulations or any obvious profit. The learners voluntarily choose to learn how to do
this. However, large turnouts at these events, and successful data gathering by citizen scientists,
can certainly help fulfill CAS’s mission: [to be a] renowned scientific and educational institution
dedicated to exploring, explaining and sustaining life on Earth. Successful bioblitzes can
potentially help CAS and their Snapshot Cal Coast partners to secure research grants for further
citizen science initiatives. Though assessments will be made to determine that learning has taken
TRAINING CITIZEN SCIENCE COORDINATORS FOR BIOBLITZ EVENTS 10
place, complete mastery of this information is not required. Mastery is very helpful, but not
required.
Design
Learning Objectives
At the end of this lesson, learners should be able to successfully manage their own
bioblitz event without CAS staff being present. This is the terminal objective for the entire
course. The terminal objectives of the modules below then become the enabling objectives for
this final outcome. All modules are in the cognitive domain except for module 1, which may be
Bioblitz Event.
Coordinators will be able to write a short essay from memory, explaining what citizen
science means, and why citizen science is important to the scientific community, as well
as the general public. The description must include 3 out of 5 main concepts described in
the reading.
1. Enabling Objective: Choose the correct steps for downloading the iNaturalist app
identified California coastal marine species, complete the steps to upload the
“observation” (the photo and its data) via a smart phone to the iNaturalist network
tagging information did not automatically upload, or the observation did not
upload successfully), coordinators analyze the problem and correct it with 90%
accuracy.
From memory, coordinators will be able to list 3 to 5 tips for tidepool etiquette
that is congruent with those found in the Snapshot Cal Coast pocket guide (a job
aid).
2. Enabling Objective: Where to look for species (particularly most wanted species)
Given a “most wanted species” guide with habitat information, coordinators will
seaweed, in the sand, under and overhang) for the different major phyla, with
100% accuracy.
Given 3 sample photographs of select species (1 set for each phylum) on the
“most wanted species list,” coordinators will specify which photo is the most
useful for ID purposes, and choose the correct explanation. Explanations should
be congruent with those in the module, any quiz errors will be used as a learning
activity.
TRAINING CITIZEN SCIENCE COORDINATORS FOR BIOBLITZ EVENTS 12
by filling in the blank next to each photo with the common name for the species
1. Enabling Objective: Coordinators will create a sample Eventbrite registration page for
their planned (or imagined) event according to standards set by the Eventbrite site.
2. Enabling Objective: Coordinators will create a Facebook page for their planned (or
imagined) event that conforms with provided sample Facebook page from a previous
Test Instruments
The testing methods utilized in this module are a combination of short essay answers,
matching and fill in the blank quizzes, and demonstration activities. The module tests will be
designed to give immediate feedback on almost all activities so that the answers themselves will
be instructional, rather than strictly corrective. Though much of the learned information could be
quantified and evaluated closely, mastery of these objectives is not necessary due to the
volunteer nature of this endeavor, and because this is supposed to be an enjoyable, fun activity
that participants will want to repeat. Any essay answers can be evaluated in the follow-up
The Snapshot Cal Coast training will be an asynchronous e-learning module, with a
scheduled follow-up webinar between the CAS citizen science team and volunteer coordinators
in order to ask additional questions or clarify procedures. Asynchronous e-learning works well
for this situation because the volunteer coordinators are scattered throughout California, and
there is no budget for training or travel. An asynchronous module also allows prospective
coordinators to take the training on their own schedule and on an as-needed basis. Though more
instructional design time is typically needed to develop an asynchronous training, it will benefit
CAS to have material that can be easily adapted to other citizen science efforts as they evolve or
This online training module will use photos of flora and fauna to train volunteer
coordinators to identify the most sought-after species for the scientific community. A visual aid
showing a large selection of commonly seen coastal marine species will be created and sent to
each coordinator to share with volunteers on site. Short video clips of past bioblitz events will be
utilized in the e-learning module to depict how the events are run, and how to make proper
scientific observations. Participants will be required to use their own smart phones loaded with
the iNaturalist application to practice the process of recording and uploading scientific
Agenda
Module 2: iNaturalist: What it is and How to Use it. (PowerPoint presentation with graphic
visuals, within Captivate) Already existing content from iNaturalist team.
Engagement Activity: (Captivate)
Quiz that tests coordinator’s ability to download and use the iNaturalist app, and to
troubleshoot problems with uploading an observation.
Module 4: Running a bioblitz. (Captivate with slides and/or video of past Snapshot events)
1. How to recruit partner organizations, team leaders, experts and participants
2. How to pick a good location, date & time
3. Create an Eventbrite page for the event for participant registration
4. Promotion and Outreach
5. Gear needed on location and how to run the day
Engagement Activities: (Captivate)
1) Coordinators write a short essay about how they might recruit experts, leaders and
participants in their local area, and discuss ideas for a good location. This will be
reviewed by CAS staff.
2) Quiz: simple quiz testing knowledge of how to properly set up an Eventbrite page for
their event
Summary: Thank you to participants for their dedication to the environment. Links to additional
information and resources located on this website and others.
TRAINING CITIZEN SCIENCE COORDINATORS FOR BIOBLITZ EVENTS 15
Major Deliverables
Deliverables for the described course include the following materials:
3. A video or slideshow (in Captivate) explaining how to make good naturalist observations
4. A “most wanted species” and “tidepool etiquette” pocket guide (job aid) using existing
5. A PowerPoint presentation that briefly introduce CAS’s citizen science team, bioblitz
efforts, and an introduction to Snapshot Cal Coast in particular. (If funding and time will
exist)
The Captivate lesson will be part of a larger website that will include additional
information that will not be addressed by this IDD. This will include things like: background
information on previous Snapshot Cal Coast success’, examples of the scientific outcomes that
Snapshot Cal Coast has contributed to, a larger species database with photos, maps of species
ranges along the coast, additional information about how to set up and wrap a session location,
and information about CAS’s Snapshot partners such as the MPA Collaborative Network.
Development Plan
The next Snapshot Cal Coast event will be held in June of 2018, and since CSUMB
students will not yet have finished relevant capstone courses by then, the final version of this
TRAINING CITIZEN SCIENCE COORDINATORS FOR BIOBLITZ EVENTS 16
course will not be ready before that event. However, portions of the course will be tested and
analyzed by the group of volunteers that are training for the 2018 Snapshot Cal Coast event, and
participation in the event will allow for filming and further research to be utilized in the final
product. There is no funding for this course development, so any photography or filming that
takes place will be paid for out of pocket. Already existing media will be used whenever
possible.
Implementation Plan
This e-learning module applies to self-study and thus is not moderated by a teacher,
trainer or facilitator. As administrators, the CAS citizen science team will provide links to the
module and website to interested parties, and will require the training for all new volunteer
coordinators. The team will be available to answer questions at any time, but hope to
concentrate the questions to a single follow-up webinar. One member of the CAS citizen science
team has a PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and over 7 years of experience in citizen
science, while the other has a master’s degree in biology and over 8 years of experience in
citizen science. Both will work closely with me in the design of this module and will not require
training to utilize it. They are prepared to make updates to the lesson as items such as the “most
wanted species” change, or when there are functionality changes to the iNaturalist platform.
Evaluation
Formative Evaluation
In order to evaluate my module, I will first solicit feedback from my subject matter
experts (the CAS citizen science team), as well as a few other select coastal scientists, after they
analyze the course for completeness, accuracy and effectiveness. Completed portions of the
training will also be tested by both repeat and new coordinators preparing for the 2018 Snapshot
TRAINING CITIZEN SCIENCE COORDINATORS FOR BIOBLITZ EVENTS 17
Cal Coast events. A review of student’s engagement activity answers, as well as having them
participate in a short survey, will give me the feedback needed to make appropriate changes to
the content and address any usability issues. Participation in CAS’s follow-up webinars will also
Summative Evaluation
For the summative evaluation, I will send out a questionnaire to the volunteer
coordinators who participated to assess their reaction to the finished module. I will also perform
an exit interview with the CAS citizen science team after this learning module has been
implemented and at 5 to 10 Snapshot Cal Coast events have taken place to assess whether they
feel that the coordinators at those sites performed better than in previous years. I will not be
Appendix A
1) Write a short essay explaining what citizen science means, and why citizen science is
important to the scientific community, as well as the general public.
2) Identify the species in these 21 photos by filling in the blank next to each photo with the
common name for the species.
1) Using your iPhone, set the proper privacy settings (so the photo will automatically be
geotagged) and take a photo of any plant or animal. Upload your observation to the
iNaturalist website, making sure all required fields are filled in. Finish by verifying that
your observation has been successfully uploaded.
(Note: there are separate procedures for Android phones and web-based observations that
are almost identical, but I didn’t want to complicate matters by including them all here).
2) You have volunteered to coordinate a Snapshot Cal Coast bioblitz event at the Point
Reyes State Marine Reserve on July 18th starting at 10am. You want to open the event to
the public but have to control the number of volunteers to under 25 due to site
accessibility restrictions. Create an iNaturalist project page for the event including a link
to a corresponding Eventbrite registration page. Finally, create a basic Facebook page for
the event and invite your network to view it.
TRAINING CITIZEN SCIENCE COORDINATORS FOR BIOBLITZ EVENTS 19
References
citizen science: Examining evidence and next steps, Biological Conservation (2016),
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2016.08.040
Cohn, J.P., (2008). Citizen Science: Can Volunteers Do Real Research? BioScience, 58 (3), 192-
197.
Francis, J et al., (2017). The World Is a Park: Using Citizen Science to Engage People in Parks
Piskurich, G. M. (2015). Rapid instructional design: Learning ID fast and right (3rd ed.).
Stolovitch, H. and Keeps, E. (2011). Telling ain’t training (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA.: ASTD
Press.