skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Explore Research Products in the PAR
It may take a few hours for recently added research products to appear in PAR search results.


  • NSF Public Access
  • Search Results
  • Fostering Resilience and Adaptation to Drought in the Southern High Plains: Using Participatory Methods for More Robust Citizen Science
Title: Fostering Resilience and Adaptation to Drought in the Southern High Plains: Using Participatory Methods for More Robust Citizen Science
Citizen science holds the potential and capacity to change the role of science in the face of current and impending environmental sustainability challenges. However, the sustainability science community must also address the ethical challenges inherent in the nature and outcomes of citizen participation and inclusion. In this article, we provide a brief history of Participatory Action Research (PAR), long popular in the social sciences, and explain how participatory methods can inform the process and products of citizen science to meet the dueling ideals of ethically engaging communities and producing more robust science. Our decade of human-environment research on drought resilience and adaptation in the Southern High Plains of the United States illustrates how PAR complements formal science and can contribute to community resilience and adaptation efforts. Synthesized into 10 entry points for more ethical and participatory science, our semi-chronological narrative offers concrete strategies informed by PAR principles and values, at various stages of research, and highlights the place-based, ethical, and methodological contexts for applying each strategy.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1811506
PAR ID:
10328324
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Sustainability
Volume:
14
Issue:
3
ISSN:
2071-1050
Page Range / eLocation ID:
1813
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. ; ; ; ; ; ; ; (, CHI EA '23: Extended Abstracts of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems)
    Participatory action research (PAR) approaches center community members’ lived experiences and can spur positive change around pressing challenges faced by communities. Even though PAR and similar approaches have been increasingly adopted in HCI research that focuses on social justice and community empowerment, public-facing events that are based on this research and center community members’ voices are less common. This case study sheds light on how to initiate and organize events that build on existing PAR efforts, and what practical challenges might exist in this process. Building on a photovoice research project, we—a collaborative team of university researchers and staff members of a community organization in Eastside Detroit—co-organized a community-based public-facing exhibition that featured community members’ photographic narratives of personal and communal safety and surveillance. In this case study, we reflect on the challenges we experienced in planning and holding the exhibition. We contribute a set of practical guidelines to help researchers facilitate community-based events when conducting participatory action research in HCI. 
    more » « less
  2. ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; et al (, Research Ideas and Outcomes)
    Participatory science and amateur participation in scientific data collection and work has been common for hundreds of years, but has become a more formalised field of practice in recent decades. The inclusion and reliance on informally trained members of the public in scientific endeavours has especially helped connect natural history collections to the general public. In recent decades, the term used to describe these participants — citizen scientists — was intended to unite formal and informal scientists as global citizens working towards a common goal. However, the term 'citizen' today has negative connotations for many members of the public and can have a polarising effect on certain individuals. Given that the nature of participatory science is to be inclusive and inviting, it is time to change this terminology. The term 'community' science has been suggested as an alternative by some practitioners and programmes. This self-awareness within the scientific community is important, but lacks impact without input from the community members potentially participating in these programmes. We addressed this knowledge gap by posing the question of term preference to groups of volunteers who have attended participatory science activities from the Field Museum of Natural History (Chicago, Illinois, USA) and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (Los Angeles, California, USA) from 2019 to 2023. A majority of respondents showed a clear preference for the term 'community' over 'citizen' science. This was especially true for younger individuals and those who belong to ethnic groups other than White. This information can impact which terms are used for specific programme populations and supports community involvement in selecting terminology and in project design. We advise stopping use of the term 'citizen' in all participatory science programmes and adopting terminology that is most appropriate depending on region, research, audience and activity. Moreover, participant populations should be solicited to hear their voices. 
    more » « less
  3. ; ; ; ; ; ; ; (, Local Environment)
    In contexts of regulatory neglect, it often falls to concerned individuals and community groups to identify and reduce people’s exposure to health-threatening pollutants in urban soils. The Our Soil project, based in Troy, New York (U.S.A.) proposed that engaging people in a “do-it-together” process of scientific inquiry could cultivate both appreciation of soil’s value and urgency to protect people from toxic soil pollution. In this paper, we develop the concept of “soil publics” and use it to critically reflect on how Our Soil used participatory research methods to measure urban soil pollution, exchange and value local knowledge, and cultivate a sense of concern for soil as a public issue. Soil publics come together through collective participatory practices, such as community gardening or, in this case, citizen science. This paper argues that when citizen science is pursued with a focus on producing soil publics, it is not just a means of collecting data about soil; it is part of the process of recognising past harms and transforming human-soil relations. 
    more » « less
  4. ; ; ; ; ; (, Progress in Energy)
    Abstract This perspective explores the imperative role of participatory research (PR) in advancing energy justice. We argue that using PR methods and principles at the intersection of energy and equity is a critical research advantage. Here, we contend that PR frameworks are integral to bridging the gap between energy justice theory and practice, emphasizing the need to move beyond decontextualized principles to address specific injustices related to race, class, gender, and coloniality. We present three energy justice case studies that used participatory approaches in diverse contexts: Amazon, Brazil; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; and Holyoke, Massachusetts, USA. These cases showcase the versatility of PR methods in understanding and addressing unique energy challenges within local communities. We highlight guiding principles of PR, emphasizing the importance of prioritizing community needs, respecting diverse expertise, building trust, designing for transparency and accountability, choosing appropriate methods, adapting and being flexible, and aiming for long-term collaboration. Lastly, our perspective suggests future directions for participatory energy justice research, including the potential for PR to inform multiscalar policy, practice, and advocacy. We underscore the importance of collaborations between university researchers and community organizations through citizen science, emphasizing the need for diverse disciplinary perspectives to effectively address complex energy justice challenges. 
    more » « less
  5. ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; (, International Conference on Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning)
    We describe an online citizen science platform (www.mindhive.science) for human brain and behavior research that uses a participatory science learning approach to engage learners in the full spectrum of scientific inquiry. Building on an open science philosophy, it features a collaborative study design environment comprising an experiment builder, a database of validated tasks and surveys, and a public-facing study page; a peer review center where students are able to engage with and reflect on studies designed by peers from their own schools and schools around the globe; and GDPR-compliant data collection, data management, and data visualization and interpretation functionality. We describe student-initiated research generated during the COVID-19 pandemic to illustrate how the platform supports student-teacher-scientist community partnerships for participatory learning in authentic inquiry. 
    more » « less
  • Citation Formats
  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago
  • BibTeX
  • Save / Share this Record
  • Send to Email