Innovations In Collaborative Science: Advancing Citizen Science, Crowdsourcing And Participatory Modeling To Understand And Manage Marine Social–Ecological Systems

Including stakeholders in environmental monitoring and research has been an increasingly recognized necessity for understanding the complex nature of marine social–ecological systems (SES). Stakeholder engagement and participation is often an essential ingredient for successful conservation and management. As a result, new inclusive approaches to scientific research have emerged under a broad umbrella often referred to as “citizen science.” These are collaborative research efforts that include stakeholders in the scientific process and strive to in various ways (1) decrease uncertainty of the dynamics of marine SES through collaborative data collection; (2) harness the expertise and knowledge of stakeholders that rely on marine resources to better understand these systems; and (3) provide a venue for more inclusive forms of resource and ecosystem management decision-making. Although the literature on citizen science shows that it is a popular way to collaboratively understand and collaboratively make decisions about natural resources, to date there is little information about how citizen science can specifically support social–ecological research and participatory decision-making in marine systems. In this chapter, we provide an overview of how participatory approaches to citizen science have been applied in marine research. Further, we theorize about the role that emerging online technologies may play in the future for collaborative science, decision-making, and marine policy.