Orientadora: Profa. Dra. Natalia Pirani Ghilardi-Lopes / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal do ABC, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Evolução e Diversidade, São Bernardo do Campo, 2018. / Apesar da importância do monitoramento das unidades de conservação (UCs) marinhas, problemas logísticos e orçamentários dificultam sua realização e, consequentemente, a gestão efetiva dessas áreas. Por isso, é necessária a busca por alternativas de baixo custo que possam auxiliar nessas questões. A abordagem por biótopos associada à ciência cidadã mostra-se adequada para o monitoramento de comunidades marinhas bentônicas por possibilitar extensa amostragem em curto período de tempo e com baixo custo, além de integrar cidadãos ativamente em produções de conhecimento. Essa pode ser uma ferramenta interessante para o monitoramento de UCs marinhas; porém, é importante que a elaboração do protocolo de monitoramento e sua validação sejam realizadas considerando-se as recomendações da literatura. Nesse sentido, este trabalho se propôs a (1) avaliar o status dos protocolos de ciência cidadã para bentos marinho e costeiro no mundo e (2) a propor, aplicar e validar o uso da ciência cidadã associada à abordagem por biótopos como uma ferramenta para o monitoramento de comunidades bentônicas em UCs marinhas. Para isso, realizamos o levantamento e comparação da estrutura de protocolos de ciência cidadã para bentos costeiro e marinho, incluindo o protocolo proposto no presente estudo. Apesar da maioria dos projetos encontrados apresentarem várias das características recomendadas pela literatura, seus principais interesses são a coleta de dados e os resultados oriundos destes, ficando a educação dos CCs, sua inclusão no processo de desenvolvimento do protocolo e sua avaliação em segundo plano. Sugerimos que os protocolos considerem a educação científica e ambiental dos CCs como um objetivo a ser atingido, e nosso protocolo leva tais ideias em consideração. Para embasar a elaboração do nosso protocolo, realizamos um levantamento prévio dos biótopos de um trecho do infralitoral consolidado da Ilha das Palmas (Estação Ecológica Tupinambás, Ubatuba/SP). Nesse levantamento, foram identificados 20 biótopos e três animais vágeis associados em apenas um mergulho. Também foram detectados organismos invasores e a dominância de tapetes na área de estudo. Isso é um demonstrativo de que a caracterização de comunidades marinhas bentônicas utilizando o método visual por biótopos pode agilizar a identificação de possíveis impactos negativos e a realização de planos de prevenção ou mitigação dos mesmos. Cientistas cidadãos (CCs) voluntários foram capacitados no uso do protocolo, que foi dividido em duas etapas: (1) a coleta de dados, que consistiu de registros fotográficos padronizados do costão rochoso; e (2) o processamento das fotografias, que consistiu da identificação (ID) dos biótopos nas fotos em um curso presencial. As fotos obtidas durante a Etapa 1 estão disponíveis na plataforma Zooniverse, através do projeto Monitore Tupinambás (https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/larissakawabe/monitore-tupinambas), no qual qualquer voluntário pode contribuir com as análises, seguindo o tutorial disponível. A avaliação educacional da pesquisa, realizada através de questionários pré e pós-atividade, mostrou principalmente que houve mudanças de percepção dos CCs em relação ao ambiente estudado. Para a validação dos dados da Etapa 2, comparamos as IDs dos biótopos realizadas pelas pesquisadoras (grupo controle) e CCs (grupo experimental), analisando a precisão e acurácia das respostas. Apesar das limitações inerentes do método utilizado (ID por foto) e das necessidades de modificação do protocolo identificadas por CCs e pesquisadoras; os resultados de acurácia e precisão foram comparáveis aos de outros trabalhos similares, demonstrando que esse protocolo, o primeiro a ser desenvolvido com foco em bentos marinho no Brasil, é uma ferramenta promissora para o monitoramento participativo e de longo prazo das UCs marinhas do país, auxiliando na gestão dessas áreas e na educação ambiental e científica dos cidadãos participantes. / Despite the importance of monitoring the marine protected areas (MPAs), logistical and budgetary problems make it difficult to carry out and, consequently, affect the effective management of these areas. Therefore, it is necessary to search for low-cost alternatives that could help with these issues. The biotope approach associated with citizen science could be interesting for the monitoring of marine benthic communities because it allows extensive sampling in a relatively short period of time and at low cost. At the same time, citizens are integrated as active contributors in the knowledge production. This can be an interesting tool for the MPA monitoring; however, it is important that the elaboration of the monitoring protocol and its validation consider the literature recommendations. In this sense, this work aimed to (1) evaluate the status of citizen science protocols for marine and coastal benthos in the world and (2) to propose, apply and validate the use of citizen science associated with the biotope approach as a tool for monitoring benthic communities in MPAs. For this, we conducted a survey and comparison of the structure of citizen science protocols for coastal and marine benthos, including the protocol proposed in the present study. Although most of the projects found present several of the characteristics recommended by the literature, their main interests are the data collection and their results, being the education of citizen scientists, their inclusion in the protocol development process and their evaluation in the background. We suggest that the protocols consider the scientific and environmental education of citizen scientists as a goal to be achieved, and our protocol takes such ideas into account. To support the elaboration of our protocol, we carried out a preliminary biotopes survey of a consolidated subtidal section of the Ilha das Palmas (Tupinambás Ecological Station, Ubatuba/SP). In this survey, 20 biotopes and three associated animals were identified in only one dive. Invasive organisms and carpet dominance were also detected in the study area. This is a demonstration that the benthic marine communities characterization using the biotope visual method can speed up the identification of possible negative impacts and the implementation of prevention or mitigation plans. Volunteer citizen scientists were trained in the use of the protocol, which was divided into two steps: (1) data collection, which consisted of standardized photographic records of the rocky reef; and (2) the processing of the photographs, which consisted of identification (ID) of the biotopes in the photos in a classroom course. The photos obtained during Stage 1 are available on the Zooniverse platform through the Monitore Tupinambás project (https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/larissakawabe/monitore-tupinambas), in which any volunteer can contribute to the analyzes, following the tutorial available. The educational evaluation of the research, performed through pre and post-activity questionnaires, showed mainly that there were changes in perception of citizen scientists in relation to the studied environment. For the data validation of Stage 2, we compared the biotope IDs performed by the researchers (control group) and citizen scientists (experimental group), analyzing their accuracy and precision. Despite the inherent limitations of the method used (ID per photo) and the identification by citizen scientists and researchers of protocol modification needs; the results of accuracy and precision were comparable to those of other similar studies, demonstrating that this protocol, the first developed with a focus on marine benthos in Brazil, is a promising tool for the participatory and long-term monitoring of the country's MPA, assisting in the management of these areas and in the environmental and scientific education of the citizens scientists.

Kleinbäuerliche Haushalte im Globalen Süden sind zunehmend gefordert, ihre landwirtschaftlichen Aktivitäten an globale Veränderungen anzupassen. Landwirtschaftliche Beratungsdienste (extension services) stoßen vielerorts auf Schwierigkeiten, eine wachsende rurale Bevölkerung mit heterogenen Informationsbedürfnissen adäquat zu erreichen. Die zunehmende Verbreitung moderner Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien (IKT) hat in jüngster Zeit neue Möglichkeiten geschaffen, Information weitreichend zu verbreiten. Gleichzeitig bietet digitale Kommunikation aber auch Möglichkeiten, große Zahlen von Bäuerinnen und Bauern in der Erzeugung von Wissen und Information einzubinden. Durch digitale Kanäle können landwirtschaftliche Beratungsdienste systematisch Daten-Inputs von ihrer Zielgruppe erheben, sie aggregiert verarbeiten, und auf dieser Grundlage ihre Dienstleistung verbessern. Diese Dissertationsschrift präsentiert drei Machbarkeitsstudien zu verschiedenen Strategien zur Einbindung großer Zahlen von Bäuerinnen und Bauern in der landwirtschaftlichen Beratung mittels moderner IKT. Eine erste Studie untersucht die Machbarkeit und den Nutzen digital unterstützter landwirtschaftlicher „Bürgerwissenschaft“ (citizen science) zur Einbindung von Bäuerinnen und Bauern in der Wissensgenerierung. Eine zweite Studie passt den „Positive Deviance-Ansatz“ an multi-dimensionale kleinbäuerliche Entwicklung an. Eine dritte Studie präsentiert und testet ein Verfahren zur Nutzung von „Zwei-Wege-Kommunikation“ über Mobiltelefone, um die automatisierte, individuelle Priorisierung von Beratungsinhalten in kleinbäuerlichem Kontext zu verbessern. Auf Basis der vorgelegten Erkenntnisse aus drei unabhängigen Machbarkeitsstudien macht die Dissertationsschrift Vorschläge, wie landwirtschaftliche Beratungsdienste im Globalen Süden die Herausforderungen der großen Zahl und starken Heterogenität kleinbäuerlicher Haushalte mit effizienter, systematischer Nutzung digitaler Medien begegnen können. / Smallholder farmers across the Global South increasingly need to adapt their farming activities to fast-paced changes. Worldwide, agricultural extension services face the challenge of reaching a large and growing clientele with highly diverse information needs. In recent years, increased penetration of modern information and communication technology (ICT) has created new opportunities for disseminating agricultural information. At the same time, digital communication can also allow the involvement of large numbers of farmers in the creation and aggregation of relevant knowledge and information. By collecting well-defined data inputs from farmers and processing these data in systematic ways, agricultural advisory services can potentially improve their overall performance towards a large and heterogeneous clientele. Through three proof-of-concept studies, this dissertation delivers empirical evidence on the feasibility of different ways of employing modern ICT to harness large-scale farmer participation in agricultural extension. A first study explores the feasibility and usefulness of digitally-enabled agricultural citizen science for involving large numbers of farmers in knowledge generation. A second study adapts the ‘Positive Deviance approach’ to multi-dimensional agricultural development and delivers evidence on its feasibility. A third study suggests and tests a procedure for employing two-way communication through mobile phone interfaces for improving the targeting of agricultural advisory messages in smallholder context. Based on the empirical evidence from these three independent proof-of-concept studies, the dissertation suggests how agricultural extension services in the Global South can address the challenges of scale and complexity in smallholder farming context through increased methodological pluralism, greater farmer participation, and efficient, systematic use of digital media.

The Texas Stream Team (TST) is one of an increasing number of citizen science water monitoring programs throughout the US which have been continuously collecting surface water quality data under quality assurance protocols for decades. Volunteer monitoring efforts have generated monitoring datasets that are long-term, continuous, and cover a large geographic area - characteristics shown to be valuable for scientists and professional agencies. However, citizen science data has been of limited use to researchers due to concerns about the accuracy of data collected by volunteers, and the decades of water quality monitoring data collected by TST volunteers is not widely used, if at all. A growing body of studies have attempted to address accuracy concerns by comparing volunteer data to professional data, but this has rarely been done with large-scale, existing datasets like those collected by TST. This study assesses the accuracy of the volunteer water quality data collected across the state of Texas by the TST citizen science program between 1992-2017 by comparing it to professional data from corresponding stations during the same time period, as well as comparing existing and experimental data from a local TST partner agency. The results indicate that even large-scale, existing volunteer and professional data with unpaired samples that may have been taken months apart can show statewide agreement of 80% for all parameters (DO = 77%, pH = 79%, conductivity = 85%) over the 38 years of sampling included in the analyses, across all locations. The local case study using paired datasets for which a greater number of factors were controlled for show an even higher agreement between volunteers and professionals (DO = 91%, pH = 87%, conductivity = 100%) and show no significant difference between experimental and existing sampling data. The results from this study indicate that TST has been collecting water sampling data for decades that is comparable to professional data and provides compelling evidence for researchers and managers to better utilize TST's and other large-scale monitoring datasets already in existence from similar citizen science water monitoring programs across the country.

This thesis proposes a DIY environmental sensing approach that empowers citizens to reinvigorate people's awareness of, and concern for, pollution. Current air pollution measuring techniques are described, and a new concept of participatory sensing is presented. I argue that technological advances in sensing, computation, storage, and communication now have the power to turn the near-ubiquitous mobile phone into a global mobile sensing device, and commence the participatory paradigm employing amateurs in environmental data collection. To test the thesis, PAIR, a prototype with interchangeable sensor, was developed. It aims to enable people to sense environment on-the-go and provide users with immediate feedback. Such data can make people learn about their environment, make them aware of air pollution causes, and eventually even bring behavioral changes. Consequently, a user survey and interviews identify strengths and weaknesses of the mobile sensing device, and based on the usability requirements, we conclude design recommendations for further development. Finally, we identify the main benefits amateur data collection and participatory sensing represent for urban dwellers, and we evaluate issues and challenges they have yet to overcome.

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Wie können Regionalbibliotheken von einer offenen Bereitstellung ihrer digitalen Bestände profitieren? Unter Bezug auf aktuelle Entwicklungen im Bibliothekswesen versucht der Beitrag zu zeigen, wie sich hier gerade Regionalbibliotheken eine Möglichkeit bietet, ihre Rolle neu zu definieren und eine neue Relevanz zu entwickeln. Im Mittelpunkt stehen die Begriffe Digitalität, Kulturdaten und Citizen Science, damit zusammenhängende Konzepte und untereinander bestehende Verbindungen. Am Beispiel von Erfahrungen und Aktivitäten der Sächsischen Landesbibliothek – Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Dresden (SLUB) bzw. allgemein der Landschaft von Gedächtnis-, Wissenschafts- und Kultureinrichtungen im Freistaat Sachsen wird untersucht, wie sowohl die Arbeit in festen Strukturen als auch in offenen Netzwerken zu dieser Profilbildung beitragen können. Mehrere Thesen zu Regionalbibliotheken und Digitalität schließen den Beitrag ab. Manuskriptfassung des in Zeitschrift für Bibliothekswesen und Bibliographie 2023, 70(2), S. 74-83 erscheinenden Beitrags

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This dissertation examines the contestations over the politics of knowledge, risk, and environmental justice in three fenceline sites. Mobilizing the fenceline standpoint to study risk strengthens our objective understanding of the social situatedness of risk. To illustrate how a fenceline standpoint contributes to stronger objectivity of risk contestations, I survey public discourse of coal slurry extraction in Black Mesa, Arizona using an environmental justice framework. Discursive justifications for the construction of the slurry pipeline reveal how environmental injustice in the fenceline community emerged through urban controversies over water and power generation that excluded a fenceline standpoint. Insights from Black Mesa frame the next two cases: open burning hazardous waste at Radford Army Ammunition Plant, and M6 Disposal at Camp Minden, Louisiana. At Radford, scholar-activist research examines the contestations of risk at one of the most hazardous waste facilities in the nation. I analyze the construction of risk from open burning of hazardous waste from a fenceline standpoint. I discursively situate the controversy over fenceline community risk from open burning, by showing the inadequacies of official risk assessments. Critical discourse analysis of risk shows the extant contestations over the practice of open burning. In juxtaposition to Radford, the Camp Minden open burn controversy demonstrates how a fenceline movement successfully constructed alternatives to open burning. Fenceline success in Minden is forcing scrutiny over the risks produced by the practice of open burning explosives across the United States. The activation of fenceline knowledge and expertise, through grassroots organizing, is propelling inquiry from scientific and technical experts of the American Chemical Society who are questioning why the Department of Defense and the Environmental Protection Agency have approved the use of open burning at other sites despite safer alternative technology. Synthetically, each case illustrates the importance of fenceline knowledge as a crucial site of expertise. I present an argument for how a fenceline standpoint can challenge regulatory and producer constructions of fenceline risk. The creation of a program of research: Critical Risk Analysis, offers a model for scholar-activist intervention on the fenceline. The Camp Minden Dialogue demonstrates a successful example of how fenceline expert-activists can influence the construction of risk. Normatively, I build the argument that environmental justice research within Science and Technology Studies ought to situate the fenceline standpoint as equal to the competing epistemological claims of production and regulatory experts in order to strengthen the objectivity of our research in contested fenceline sites. / Ph. D.

No description available.

Dramatische ökologische, ökonomische und soziale Veränderungen bedrohen die Stabilität von Ökosystemen weltweit und stellen zusammen mit neuen Ansprüchen an die vielfältigen Ökosystemdienstleistungen von Wäldern neue Herausforderungen für das forstliche Management und Monitoring dar. Neue Risiken und Gefahren, wie zum Beispiel eingebürgerte invasive Arten (Neobiota), werfen grundsätzliche Fragen hinsichtlich etablierter forstlicher Managementstrategien auf, da diese Strategien auf der Annahme stabiler Ökosysteme basieren. Anpassungsfähige Management- und Monitoringstrategien sind deshalb notwendig, um diese neuen Bedrohungen und Veränderungen frühzeitig zu erkennen. Dies erfordert jedoch ein großflächiges und umfassendes Monitoring, was unter Maßgabe begrenzter Ressourcen nur bedingt möglich ist. Angesichts dieser Herausforderungen haben Forstpraktiker und Wissenschaftler begonnen auch auf die Unterstützung von Freiwilligen in Form sogenannter „Citizen Science“-Projekte (Bürgerwissenschaft) zurückzugreifen, um zusätzliche Informationen zu sammeln und flexibel auf spezifische Fragestellungen reagieren zu können. Mit der allgemeinen Verfügbarkeit des Internets und mobiler Geräte ist in Form sogenannter sozialer Medien zudem eine neue digitale Informationsquelle entstanden. Mittels dieser Technologien übernehmen Nutzer prinzipiell die Funktion von Umweltsensoren und erzeugen indirekt ein ungeheures Volumen allgemein zugänglicher Umgebungs- und Umweltinformationen. Die automatische Analyse von sozialen Medien wie Facebook, Twitter, Wikis oder Blogs, leistet inzwischen wichtige Beiträge zu Bereichen wie dem Monitoring von Infektionskrankheiten, Katastrophenschutz oder der Erkennung von Erdbeben. Anwendungen mit einem ökologischen Bezug existieren jedoch nur vereinzelt, und eine methodische Bearbeitung dieses Anwendungsbereichs fand bisher nicht statt. Unter Anwendung des Mikroblogging-Dienstes Twitter und des Beispiels eingebürgerter invasiver Arten in Waldökosystemen, verfolgt die vorliegende Arbeit eine solche methodische Bearbeitung und Bewertung sozialer Medien im Monitoring von Wäldern. Die automatische Analyse sozialer Medien wird dabei als opportunistisches „Citizen Science“-Modell betrachtet und die verfügbaren Daten, Aktivitäten und Teilnehmer einer vergleichenden Analyse mit existierenden bewusst geplanten „Citizen Science“-Projekten im Umweltmonitoring unterzogen. Die vorliegenden Ergebnisse zeigen, dass Twitter eine wertvolle Informationsquelle über invasive Arten darstellt und dass soziale Medien im Allgemeinen traditionelle Umweltinformationen ergänzen könnten. Twitter ist eine reichhaltige Quelle von primären Biodiversitätsbeobachtungen, einschließlich solcher zu eingebürgerten invasiven Arten. Zusätzlich kann gezeigt werden, dass die analysierten Twitterinhalte für die untersuchten Arten markante Themen- und Informationsprofile aufweisen, die wichtige Beiträge im Management invasiver Arten leisten können. Allgemein zeigt die Studie, dass einerseits das Potential von „Citizen Science“ im forstlichen Monitoring derzeit nicht ausgeschöpft wird, aber andererseits mit denjenigen Nutzern, die Biodiversitätsbeobachtungen auf Twitter teilen, eine große Zahl von Individuen mit einem Interesse an Umweltbeobachtungen zur Verfügung steht, die auf der Basis ihres dokumentierten Interesses unter Umständen für bewusst geplante „Citizen Science“-Projekte mobilisiert werden könnten. Zusammenfassend dokumentiert diese Studie, dass soziale Medien eine wertvolle Quelle für Umweltinformationen allgemein sind und eine verstärkte Untersuchung verdienen, letztlich mit dem Ziel, operative Systeme zur Unterstützung von Risikobewertungen in Echtzeit zu entwickeln.