Bias in Community Science Data

Participatory science, also known as community science or citizen science, is a collaborative form of data collection in which the public, in partnership with science professionals, collect data and/or conduct research. Participatory science platforms such as iNaturalist and ebird are phenomenal tools that allow scientists to gather exponentially more data while community members gain knowledge and satisfaction in contributing to the better understanding of the natural world. However, because of social and cultural biases in who has awareness of and access to participatory science platforms, the data reported on these platforms does not reflect the spatial biodiversity of cities. We are currently developing methods to correct biases in participatory science data so that scientists can better utilize these platforms that the multitude of data within them. 

Publications

Estien, C.O., Carlen, E.J., & Schell, C.J. (2024) Examining the influence of sociodemographics, residential segregation, and historical redlining on eBird and iNaturalist data disparities in three U.S. cities. Ecology and Society. 29(3):16 doi:10.5751/ES-15263-290316

Carlen, E.J., Estien, C.O., Perkins, D., Goldstein, B.R., Caspi, T., Williams, T.D., Kreling, S.E.S., Hentati, Y., Stanton, L.A., Des Roches, S., Johnson, R., Young, A.N., Cooper, C.B., Schell, C.J. (2024) A framework for contextualizing social-ecological biases in contributory science data. People and Nature. 6:377-390. doi: 10.1002/pan3.10592

Research Team

Elizabeth Carlen, WashU (LEC)
Jonathan Losos, WashU (Biology)
Daniel Cher, WashU (McKelvey School of Engineering)
Phoenix Jarosz, WashU (McKelvey School of Engineering)
Nathan Jacobs, WashU (McKelvey School of Engineering)
Jonathan Lin, WashU (McKelvey School of Engineering)
Srikumar Sastry, WashU (McKelvey School of Engineering)