Written by: Breana Riordan
Since the term first emerged in the 1600s, conservation has become one of our greatest warriors in the rescue of species and ecosystems against extinction. With modern technologies comes modern ways of performing conservation, including that of citizen science. Through citizen science everyday citizens are empowered to become local scientists, collecting and analysing vital data for researchers or organisations. Many organisations such as Gili Shark Conservation, rely on people just like you and me to dive headfirst (quite literally) into conservation research and become valuable citizen scientists. With the growing interest in citizen science movements, it’s important to shed some light on this topic. If you’ve ever wondered how you can contribute to saving our oceans and the species in them, you may want to read on.
At its core, citizen science is a branch of science that relies on everyday people to participate in data collection and research. For marine conservation, this is a game changer! Citizen science provides a means by which we can perform large-scale monitoring of ocean environments and the species that reside within them. Many of the major issues being faced by marine ecosystems are better understood due to the work of citizen scientists. From impacts of fishing and bycatch of top predators (ask one of our team our Shark Week if this interests you!), to controlling the spread of invasive species, to assessing coral health and survival. In Australia, citizen scientists have been monumental for tracking green sea turtle populations (Hof et al. 2017) and evaluating the long-term impacts of fishing, as evidenced through the success of the Reef Life Survey (Stuart-Smith et al. 2017). From the Great Barrier Reef across to the Gulf of California (Rousso et al. 2024), and all the way to us here on Gili Air, citizen science is the foundation for marine conservation research globally.
Science in and of itself is not cheap, just to survey 500 metres of beach can cost hundreds of dollars and take countless hours. By recruiting local citizens to help conduct research and data collection, you can produce the same amount of data, or cover the same sampling area, for a fraction of the cost. The sheer scale of data and biomonitoring required for most marine conservation research cannot be achieved by smaller government departments or research groups alone. In fact, a lot of marine policy around designing marine protected areas or catch limits for commercially fish species, is informed from data collected by citizen scientists (Stuart-Smith et al. 2017). Not only that, but many studies that have found the quality of data produced by citizen scientists is indistinguishable to that collected by experienced scientists (Helsey et al. 2017; van der Velde et al. 2017).
For citizen science to be possible, you need volunteers willing to come and learn the skills required to become scientists and experts in the marine environment. What has made citizen science so successful, and what drives groups like Gili Shark Conservation to conduct such important conservation research, is found in the volunteers themselves. Citizen science gives you the opportunity to be advocates for the ocean. Equipping you with the skills necessary to contribute to the collection of important scientific data and the knowledge necessary to join the discussion around preserving marine biodiversity and ecosystems. Being able to interact with the marine environment and be involved in all steps of the research process greatly enriches your learning experience, where you can directly see where your efforts are going and what impact you are making.
“When you are able to hands-on interact with coral you begin to understand how when placed within its ecosystem it serves the piece of the larger picture” (Hesley et al. 2023).
Our oceans are under a growing threat. Whilst the pressures are great, so are our opportunities to fight back. Every conservation tool in our kit is valuable for protecting these vulnerable environments. Citizen science gives everyone a chance to pick up these tools and learn how to use them for meaningful conservation work. The sharkies at Gili Shark Conservation come from all walks of life, both science and non-science. By the end of their time here however, they leave as confident citizen scientists and lifelong ambassadors for marine conservation. Just like here at Gili Shark, citizen science allows community to create opportunity, opportunity to understand and make an impact in our marine environments. Scientists aren’t just those in lab coats, so are you ready to dive in?
