Evaluating the Motivations, Knowledge, and Efficacy of Participants in Environmental Health Citizen Science Projects.

Environmental research is increasingly using citizen scientists in many aspects of projects, such as data collection and question design. To date, only a limited number of co-created citizen science projects where community members are involved in most or all steps of the scientific process have been completed, and few comparing community engagement methods and efficacy and learning outcomes across demo- and geographic data. This study will compare two citizen science programs, evaluating what motivates citizen scientists to participate in environmental health research and whether their scientific knowledge and environmental behavior and efficacy are affected by their participation. Participants in the “Gardenroots: A Citizen Science Garden Project” completed sample collection training and submitted soil, water, vegetable, and dust samples for analysis and will receive their environmental monitoring results. In the Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability Promotora Science Project, Spanish speaking community members of South Tucson underwent training in climate change and environmental quality and sample collection, and worked with families in the South Tucson community, collecting soil and water samples and providing environmental health education. For both Gardenroots and Promotora, participants completed a pre- and post survey with a variety of qualitative and quantitative questions. These survey instruments will be used to evaluate differences in knowledge, environmental self-efficacy, and motivations for both projects. This information is critical to moving citizen science efforts forward and to determine whether such projects: 1) co-produces environmental monitoring, exposure assessment, and risk data in a form that will be directly relevant to the participant's lives, 2) increases the community’s involvement in environmental decision-making, and 3) improves environmental health education and literacy (e.g. individual learning and social-ecological outcomes) in underserved communities.