Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Evaluating Citizen Science Outreach: A Case-Study With The Peregrine Fund’S American Kestrel Partnership, Sarah E. Schulwitz, Greg C. Hill, Vanessa Fry, Christopher J.W. Mcclure

Public Policy and Administration Faculty Publications and Presentations

Citizen science programs can be powerful drivers of knowledge and scientific understanding and, in recent decades, they have become increasingly popular. Conducting successful research with the aid of citizen scientists often rests on the efficacy of a program’s outreach strategies. Program evaluation is increasingly recognized as a critical practice for citizen science practitioners to ensure that all efforts, including outreach, contribute to the overall goals of the program. The Peregrine Fund’s American Kestrel Partnership (AKP) is one such citizen science program that relies on outreach to engage participants in effective monitoring of a declining falcon species. Here, we examine whether …