Citizen Science and Politics – a Dealbreaker for Government Support?

Encouraging people to conduct their own scientific research, often called citizen science, has plenty of positive impact.  It provides another means for learning about science and it expands the knowledge generated to include material that professional research communities may not be focused on.  However, because some citizen science projects are linked to policy choices, political concerns and pressures will be more keenly felt.

To a certain extent, that’s unavoidable, whether or not it’s citizens doing the research, or scientists.  But there are ways to minimize the extent such pressures can prevent the research to begin with.

Representative James Moran, chair of the House Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, did not have this in mind when he spoke recently.  According to Greenwire (via The New York Times and SEFORA), Moran characterized a number of efforts as civic activism, including (at least by implication) programs that supported elementary schools collecting water samples from nearby sources and testing for pollution.  While much of what Moran discussed could be considered activism – getting the message out campaigns for pollution and climate change on par with anti-smoking or HIV prevention efforts – I’m not as sanguine about describing a neighborhood research project as political activity.

This is tricky ground.  You really can’t separate politics and science, at least not entirely.  And the data collected from such programs can be used to advocate for particular policies.  But since government dollars can be associated with these programs, the political uses of such data gets additional scrutiny.  But the educational and other benefits of such programs ought to be considered when evaluating whether government should support them.  Unfortunately, describing those activities as citizen activism (even if by implication) could make that justification harder to make.