For centuries, science breakthroughs relied on scientific researchers conducting rigorous studies with technologically advanced materials. However, this concept of scientific research is changing with the rise of citizen science: the participation of the general public in collecting data, making observations, and analyzing input in the research process.
Although the term was coined 35 years ago, citizen science dates back over a century. In 1990, the National Audubon Society launched the Christmas Bird Count initiative, which encouraged the general public across North America to voluntarily track birds for a large dataset. This method of collecting data expanded dramatically in the 2000s, when connectivity technologies like cameras, smart phones, and GPS trackers made it infinitely easier to contribute accurately to a pool of observations.
Today, more than 14 million people across the globe participate in citizen science research, according to a 2023 study published in the Public Library of Science.
The cause behind the popularity of citizen science is rooted in its ability to collect indefinitely more data than any group of scientists alone. In ecological studies, collecting meaningful data often means understanding trends across continents and over a long span of time. It is far more difficult for researchers alone to collect such expansive data, while citizen scientists each contributing their part makes it significantly easier.
According to a recent study titled “Effective Data Collection Approaches for Citizen Science in Biodiversity Research,” more than 80% of ecology and biodiversity related data in modern research is contributed by citizen scientists. Furthermore, citizen scientists are more involved in scientific research and tend to become more literate in related fields. By giving the general public stake in the research, it can gain more traction and lead to more impact in the real world.
However, citizen science does fall short of traditional data collection in various fields. The largest concern is the disparate levels of understanding between different citizen scientists. Untrained volunteers may deduce incorrect classifications, work inconsistently, or allow personal bias to interfere with scientific observation. Additionally, citizen scientists are unequally distributed across different countries and regions. Within large cities, there may be an abundance of citizen scientists who duplicate results; meanwhile, small rural towns are left with no data entries due to the lack of citizen scientists there.
Today, citizen science is used in environmental research mostly for biodiversity monitoring, climate change research, and urban ecology. All three of these fields benefit from long-term inspection of a large dataset across continents, making them the leading areas where citizen science makes a meaningful contribution.
These research fields are supported by platforms like iNaturalist, eBird, and Zooniverse, which allow users to upload pictures of species alongside location to create an online network of species. Today, iNaturalist alone is home to more than 300 million observations and cited in over 7,000 scientific papers, according to a 2025 impact highlights report from iNaturalist.
Citizen science is becoming a new force in ecology, environmental and biodiversity research across the globe. By combining citizen observations with technology to create comprehensive understandings of species and their movements, citizen science platforms provide promising data for scientific analyses. As citizen science continues to aid human research, it can hopefully accelerate scientific breakthroughs and improve humans’ scientific literacy.
