SPOTTERON Citizen Science Blog

Data quality and data mangement is on of the most important aspects of Citizen Science - for always having a validated and stable data-set of user's contributions present, which can be managed directly in your Citizen Science app's administration interface, we have created "Check & Lock".

It has been six years since we started the first apps on the SPOTTERON platform and what a journey this has been!
Within that time, users in the apps have contributed hundreds of thousands of observations across the world, helping scientists and organisations to collect vital data for their research. In turn, this data helps us to understand the world around us a little better and also provides inputs on how to tackle the challenges of our time.

It is therefore with great pleasure to present you this short but beautiful visualisation of our journey so far.

At SPOTTERON, we love it when science, design and art come together to create something quite special and unique. One of those special things are the clay animation videos by Max Helmberger.

Max is a PhD student in Matthew Grieshop's lab currently researching soil ecology, or, to be more specific, microplastics in soil. He is a master in entomology, and, in addition, he is also a talented artist creating clay animation videos.
We asked Max a few questions about him and his work.

It’s mushroom season here in Austria, which means it’s the perfect time to introduce you to the Mushroom Finder- the SPOTTERON mushroop app for citizen scientist! 

The Pilzfinder (mushroom finder) is our Citizen Science Web App created in cooperation with the Mycology Research Society of the University of Vienna. The idea behind it on the one hand is to preserve and expand the very old knowledge about wild growing mushrooms and toadstools and, above all, to introduce the topic to and engage the younger generation.

In this blog series we would like to introduce all our apps and give you an overview of the diverse world of Citizen Science and its possibilities.
The SpiderSpotter App was created in cooperation with the University of Ghent, and will be enjoyed by all spider lovers!

In this blog series we would like to introduce all our apps and give you an overview of the diverse world of Citizen Science and its possibilities.

Today's App: Roadkill

CrowdWater is a global Citizen Science project initiated by the University of Zurich, which collects hydrological data. The goal is to develop a cheap and easy data collection method that can be used to predict floods and low flow. The long-term aim of the project is to complement existing gauging station networks, especially in regions with a sparse measurement network, such as in developing countries.

Inspired by the iDiv Summer School 2019, we have created a new public WhatsApp group to serve as a direct communication channel for all members, stakeholders, and academics in Citizen Science.

During summer, many conferences on Citizen Science and other events are happening. To spread the word about Citizen Science and share our experience in creating interactive Citizen Science apps, we had quite a schedule this year..

The ACTION project (Participatory science toolkit against pollution, co-funded by the European Commission under the Horizon 2020 framework, SwafS programme ) has an open call for ongoing citizen science projects related to any form of pollution in Europe or worldwide looking for support.

Last week, the Austrian Citizen Science conference took place in Obergurgl, Tyrolia and we took the occasion to arrive one day earlier to visit the mountainside and get a good view of the impressive landscape surrounding the area.As Citizen Scientists, we always love to stumble apon new things to record and contribute in various scientific projects.

The new SPOTTERON version 2.7 does not only introduce the new Leaderboards (aka User Ranking) for all Citizen Science apps running on the platform, but also 2 more panels with new data statistics.

The new platform version 2.7. is going to bring a complete overhaul of the ranking panel with advanced community leaderboards and more statistic tool for all Citizen Science apps on the SPOTTERON platform.

When developing Citizen Science Apps, the usability has a big impact on how well and frequent people use them in the end. The goal for Citizen Science Apps is to become an important part in the everyday lives of their users in the long term, so that users can gain experience and can contribute important data  to scientific projects.

Currently, the #CitSci2019 conference in Raleigh, NC is going on and we follow the workshops, sessions and comments via twitter from our SPOTTERON Citizen Science design office in Vienna, Europe. But since we always love to support Citizen Science, we decided spontanously to do another special for one project of any participant or group at the conference.

We are happy to announce the release of the new SPOTTERON version 2.6.0! The next SPOTTERON Update brings 3 new extension, available for all Citizen Science apps running on the SPOTTERON platform. In the following blog entry we are going to explain these new features and their function.

Sometimes, Citizen Science contributions are happening long after the sun has set. To reduce the blinding effect of a smartphone display, we have included a new night mode option for all Citizen Science apps on the SPOTTERON platform.

Thanks for all the CitizenScience! We wish you a happy New Year's Eve and many more exciting #CitSci moments in the upcoming year. We have already new projects coming up, the first one about light pollution and Citizen Science will be ready in 1st of February. But for now, we are off until the end of first week of the new year - see you in 2019!

We were very proud to see that the latest Citizen Science project to join the SPOTTERON platform and also winner of the Australian Citizen Science Conference competition was featured on Australian news last week.

From 15th to 19th of October, the Citizen Science Summer School "Citizen Science in Theory and Practice" took place in "Grünau im Almtal", a small town in the south of Upper Austria. Grünau is particular famous for the KLF, the "Konrad Lorenz Reseach Station" where zoologist and Nobel Prize winner Konrad Lorenz studied animal behavior and became one of the founders of modern ethology. Not far from the research station, a whole week was dedicated to Citizen Science and many interesting workshops, sessions and collaboration teamwork took place.

Last week it was time for the annual European Researchers Night, a mega event which takes place simultaneously in hundreds of cities all over Europe, again. Of course we couldn't miss it and went to the event at the TGM in the 20th district of Vienna.

We recently added two new feature to SPOTTERONs ever extending 'feature ecosystem'. The two most recent additions 'Top Spots' and 'Meta-Infos' can enhance better data quality and more..

We recently added something new as part of all SPOTTERON packages: a short app-manual for all interactive Citizen Science projects on the platform.

On 6th & 7th of September 2018, the "Forum Citizen Science" took place in Frankfurt, Germany, organised by the german Citizen Science hub "Bürger schaffen Wissen".

Thanks for the many interesting submissions and your paticipation in the SPOTTERON Citizen Science contest for getting a free App in Europe! We are finally able to announce the winner (and a follow up project as second place) here on our Citizen Science blog: