CitSciOz23: The Changing Nature of ClimateWatch - Elizabeth Irvine

The Changing Nature of ClimateWatch - Reflecting on 14 Years of Citizen Science And Education
Co-Authors:
Anna W McCallum, Earthwatch Australia
Elizabeth Irvine, Earthwatch Australia (Presenter)
Marie Keatley, RMIT University
Everything in nature lives by a clock being recalibrated by climate change, and citizen science plays a critical role in building the long-term data required to understand these changes. Scientists across the globe are straining to document the timing of recurrent life-cycle events such as flowering and migration, a scientific discipline known as phenology. Since 2009, ClimateWatch observers have collected over 180,000 observations of plants and animals in Australia. ClimateWatch data has successfully allowed scientists to test the influence of climate on plant phenology and make predictions for the future.
Over the last 14 years, ClimateWatch has raised public awareness of climate change, phenology, and its impacts on biodiversity, from backyard bees to Flame Trees. ClimateWatch has used technology for biodiversity monitoring, and the program continues to adapt and evolve to this changing landscape. Here, we reflect on the challenges and successes of this long-term project and look at what lies ahead.