Advertisement

If you have an ACS member number, please enter it here so we can link this account to your membership. (optional)

ACS values your privacy. By submitting your information, you are gaining access to C&EN and subscribing to our weekly newsletter. We use the information you provide to make your reading experience better, and we will never sell your data to third party members.

ENJOY UNLIMITED ACCES TO C&EN

Policy

Citizens Take Action

December 7, 2015 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 93, Issue 48

Nov. 16, page 7: A News of the Week story misidentified the title of Kuo-Hsi Cheng. He is general manager of ScinoPharm (Changshu) Pharmaceuticals in China, not vice president of operations at ScinoPharm Taiwan, its parent company.

Nov. 16, page 39: In the obituary notice for Derek Horton, his wife, June, was incorrectly identified as a survivor. She preceded him in death.

Thanks for your two revealing articles on citizen science (C&EN, Sept. 14, pages 12 and 18). I was not surprised to read some fine examples of work by citizen organizations but was astonished to learn of the legal prohibition of volunteer environmental monitoring in some states.

Certainly our profession needs to guard both against results-driven data collection by overzealous volunteers and against plain sloppy work. But the reality is that the effect of money is much more corrosive, regardless of who does the actual work. Some commercial interests will inevitably try to control the consultants they hire to produce the results they want. Prohibition of independent studies ensures that only their voice is heard.

With appropriate controls, I believe citizen scientists not only have much to offer but they are essential to providing effective environmental solutions. Society is simply not willing to fund the full cost of environmental monitoring, but there are plenty of competent volunteers willing to help. My own experience is that once they have the training, volunteers are willing to follow the science and can serve as excellent technicians. Monitoring by volunteers allows the few available professionals to concentrate on project management, method development, and analysis of results.

Our increasingly developed society will require increased environmental scrutiny. Fortunately, our highly educated citizenry has the ability to meet this need. One example of the vast potential of volunteers is found in the same C&EN issue in the article “Working with Wikipedia” (C&EN, Sept. 14, page 36). Our task is not to stand in the way but to train and inspire future citizen scientists.

Larry Vail
Tappan, N.Y.

The articles on citizen scientists are a great example of how cooperation between individuals and government agencies can benefit us all, especially in the environmental arena. I think these kinds of programs should be encouraged as much as possible.

However, it is not clear to me that there are safeguards in place to ensure that citizen scientists do not overtly or inadvertently insert any of their own personal or group bias into the process or the data. As a taxpayer and beneficiary of their dedication and volunteerism, I certainly hope that someone who is really qualified and knowledgeable on the regulations and sampling methods is “watching the watchers.”

James F. White
Richland, Wash.

Advertisement

Article:

This article has been sent to the following recipient:

0 /1 FREE ARTICLES LEFT THIS MONTH Remaining
Chemistry matters. Join us to get the news you need.