A Webcast of Bird Nesting as a State-of-the-Art Citizen Science

PLoS Biol. 2017 Jan 6;15(1):e2001132. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.2001132. eCollection 2017 Jan.

Abstract

The quality of people's knowledge of nature has always had a significant influence on their approach to wildlife and nature conservation. However, direct interactions of people with nature are greatly limited nowadays, especially because of urbanization and modern lifestyles. As a result, our isolation from the natural world has been growing. Here, we present an example of a state-of-the-art Citizen Science project with its educational, scientific, and popularizing benefits. We conclude that modern media and new forms of education offer an effective opportunity for inspiring children and others to have fun learning to act like scientists. This approach provides broad opportunities for developing the hitherto neglected educational potential of Citizen Science.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Birds / physiology*
  • Humans
  • Nesting Behavior*
  • Research
  • Science*
  • Webcasts as Topic*

Grants and funding

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (grant number 20164202). Received by MZ. The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.