![\"Mark](\"http:\/\/globaloceanhealth.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2013\/12\/Mark-Green.jpeg\")
<\/a>Developing\u00a0a Citizen Science Observation System on the East Coast<\/strong><\/p>\nAll along\u00a0our coasts, citizen groups volunteer hundreds of hours collecting information about the ocean. What if we could find a way to use those hours to enhance our understanding of ocean acidification (OA) on the East Coast? Global Ocean Health (GOH) is working now with Dr. Mark Green, oyster farmer and professor of oceanography at Saint Joseph\u2019s College of Maine, to explore that possibility. Green explains, \u201cEvery single town on the coast has shellfish committees, friends of this bay or friends of that bay, and it would be nice if these communities could play a role in the broad observation efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n
GOH has secured funding to help Green define the bounds of what citizen science can and cannot tell us. Green, along with collaborator Joe Salisbury at the University of New Hampshire, is determining the pH of samples in his lab using high-resolution techniques, and comparing those results to data obtained by volunteers using commercially available pH probes on the same samples, essentially putting error bars on the volunteer measurements. \u201cGOH understands the importance of this question,\u201d says Green. \u201cThey keep the debate alive and make sure that we are not ignoring options that may prove valuable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Green explains the potential place for citizen science in an observation network, saying \u201cCitizen scientists will never have the analytical capability to measure the small changes in pH that define ocean acidification. However, in the coastal ocean, where pH can be quite variable, they might be able to resolve large pH changes.\u201d Defining the significance of these measurements will \u201chelp determine if volunteer scientists have a viable role in coastal ocean monitoring of pH.\u201d<\/p>\n
Green and GOH have also worked together to raise awareness about OA in public and political spheres. Green has been studying the effects of OA on bivalves for many years, but scientific papers, he says, do not create change on their own. \u201cIt\u2019s really difficult to have policy come out of a paper, and that\u2019s what GOH has been so key in: pushing to help policy come out of science.\u201d And as far as outreach goes, \u201cthe general population is much better versed and more aware of OA now than they would be without GOH\u2019s work, no doubt at all about that,\u201d says Green.<\/p>\n
Green calls GOH \u201cthe ultimate liaison between the scientific community and everybody else.\u201d Through GOH, Green has participated in workshops and Senate and House meetings. Green is quoted by the media frequently, just recently speaking with reporters in North Africa and Europe, and he has a hunch that GOH has something to do with that. \u201cA whole suite of scientists are quoted because of GOH\u2019s work,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Hopefully, the media will soon be knocking on Green\u2019s door and asking about the use of citizen science in monitoring programs as well. Green and GOH see the value of a strong network of engaged citizens, and through continued partnership\u00a0expect to verify this method and extend its use. Developing\u00a0a Citizen Science Observation System on the East Coast All along\u00a0our coasts, citizen groups volunteer hundreds of hours collecting information about the ocean. What if we could find a way to use those hours to enhance our understanding of ocean … Continue reading
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