Finding plastic pollution outreach through citizen science

Session: Education, Outreach, and Citizen Science in Our Great Lakes: Engaging the Community (2)

Bonnie Monteleone, Plastic Ocean Project, Inc, [email protected]
William Cooper, University of California Irvine, [email protected]

Abstract

Enlisting the public to gather scientific information can be the most economic way to obtain large-scale patterns in nature across vast locations and habitats that can span great lengths of time. Not only do the participants gain a better understanding and knowledge of characteristics in nature, participants learn how to apply the scientific method through curriculum-based data collection, data processing and the ability to identify the significance of their findings. Since 2009, we have worked with hundreds of students from middle schools to university level introducing citizen science. This talk will focus on ways to introduce students to basic research and some of the significant plastic marine debris findings discovered through long term, analytical fieldwork that provided valuable data to legislators and community members.

Twitter handle of presenter
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