The publications cited below and other peer-reviewed publications demonstrate the ability of citizen science to facilitate investigation of large-scale biological patterns which otherwise would be logistically impossible to pursue.
CLO citizen science projects also strive to help participants learn scientific information and, equally important, to experience and comprehend the process by which scientific investigations are conducted. While measuring the impacts of project participation is challenging, results are encouraging so far. Evaluations have shown that in addition to learning science content (Brossard et al. 2005, Trumbull et al. 2005), many participants discover that scientific investigation involves careful observation, adherence to data-gathering protocols, cautious conclusions, and a requirement for further investigation (Trumbull et al. 2000, Bonney 2004, Krasny and Bonney 2005, Phillips et al. 2006, Bonney 2007).
How bird populations change in distribution over time and space (Wells et al. 1998, Hochachka et al. 1999, Cooper et al. 2007)
How breeding success is affected by environmental change (Rosenberg et al. 1999, Hames et al. 2002)
How emerging infectious diseases spread through wild animal populations (Hochachka and Dhondt 2000, Hartup et al. 2001, Altizer et al. 2004, Hochachka et al. 2004, Dhondt et al. 2005).
How acid rain affects bird populations (Hames et al. 2002b)
How seasonal clutch-size variation is affected by latitude (Cooper et al. 2005, Cooper et al. 2006)
How databases can be “mined” and models constructed to discover patterns and processes in ecological systems (Caruana et al. 2006, Hochachka et al. 2007, Fink and Hochachka 2008).