Public participation in ecological research in India: some case studies on birds

Abstract

Advances in technology together with an increased interest among the public in nature and natural history have brought new opportunities to engage citizens in documenting and monitoring biodiversity. What are the opportunities and challenges in these kinds of endeavours? Can successful projects from elsewhere in the world be used as a template for similar efforts in India, or are there societal differences that must be taken into account? I attempt to explore these questions by describing the citizen science projects that I have been involved in, focussing on three bird projects: MigrantWatch, Citizen Sparrow and eBird. I also discuss the scientific utility of the data generated from these projects, for both familiar and new analyses. Finally I try to peer into my crystal ball to assess what lies ahead for public participation in ecological research and monitoring.

About the speaker

Suhel Quader is a scientist at the Nature Conservation Foundation and is head of citizen science programmes at the National Centre for Biological Sciences. He is interested in a variety of themes in ecology, including animal behaviour, evolutionary ecology, public participation in ecological research, and quantitative ecology.