The 3rd and final Forum on Water Food and Energy ended last Thursday and everyone is safely home or has traveled on to their next destination. It was a great Forum!
With the forum, my little exploration of citizen science is also over. Brief as it was I think I learned a few things.
1. No one has ever heard of citizen science and no one seems to be particularly interested.
2. When it’s explained to them, people can’t see the difference between citizen science and the so-called “participatory” approaches so loved by one and all.
3. When they do get it, most people automatically conclude, “It won’t work here.” People can’t seem to believe that the average citizen would be interested in science. Some people were even overtly hostile to the idea.
As Will Rogers once said, “When you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.”
Thank you for reading.
