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“Extreme Citizen Science” — High school students promoted to real researchers for motivation and environmental monitoring

High school students collecting water samples. Credit: Frederik Wolff Nisbeth Teglhus

In addition to assisting with sample collection and butterfly discovery for research projects, non-experts can now perform actual laboratory work alongside professional researchers. The University of Copenhagen, in collaboration with a Danish high school, has shown that “Extreme Citizen Science” not only increases students’ interest in science, but also makes a unique contribution to monitoring Denmark’s marine environment.

Registering butterflies and rare mushrooms, collecting water samples, and reporting tick bites has become a widespread phenomenon for so-called citizen scientists who voluntarily contribute to various research projects. It has become. Citizen science typically involves members of the public helping collect data or samples, which are then analyzed by professional researchers.

Now, researchers at the Natural History Museum of Denmark at the University of Copenhagen, in collaboration with the Danish National Union of High School Teachers, have gone one step further by “promoting” students into “real” researchers. The study is published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science.

In a project to monitor Denmark’s marine environment, high school students not only collect DNA samples from Danish fjords, but also perform DNA analysis in the laboratory.

Previously, high school classes were able to visit a laboratory at the Copenhagen Natural History Museum and conduct some of their analysis under the guidance of researchers. But now the project has set up local laboratories in both Herning and Hjorling high schools in Jutland, allowing students to carry out independent research work alongside their teachers. This is known as “extreme citizen science.”

“Extreme citizen science is the idea that researchers have an increasingly smaller role. The unique and ‘extreme’ aspect is that the majority of the research process, both fieldwork and laboratory work, is left to high school students. It is now possible to do so. Anders P. Tortrup, project leader and associate professor of citizen science at the Natural History Museum of Denmark, says:

High school students promoted to real researchers

One of the high school students participating in the laboratory. Credit: Frederik Wolff Nisbeth Teglhus

Opening your eyes to a new world

The participating high school classes, which come from Herning and Jøring as well as other high schools in Denmark, collected water samples from Limfjord and other fjords, filtered the DNA, and performed PCR on the samples at local laboratories. We conducted an analysis. The goal was to find DNA from specific species, such as eel, perch, round goby, jellyfish, and the toxic algae Alexandrium ostenfeldii.

Daniel Andersen Wu Xinhai, a biology teacher at Jöring High School, said the project offers something special to both students and teachers.

“For many students, participating in this activity is a big deal and an opening to a whole new world: going out and collecting real DNA samples, and then going into a real DNA lab and seeing it on TV. “In my experience, the show motivates them to study biology or science after high school.” says Mr. Hai.

He added that teachers also get something special. “It’s rewarding to work on cutting-edge developments in biology. Instead of constantly receiving and passing on information from five to 10 years ago, you can actually participate in producing the results that the university publishes. Additionally, as a teacher, it brings the subject matter to life and allows you to use it in real-world situations, rather than just doing it for experimental purposes.

Although high school students are wearing the white coats, there is no compromise on the quality of the research, emphasizes Frédéric Leahuy, one of the study’s lead authors and an academic staff member at the museum. “We don’t cut corners on quality. On the contrary, all of our samples achieve standards that the scientific community accepts as valid results. This ensures that each student runs a controlled test and the results is achieved by applying them to various algorithms to ensure their reliability. ”

High school students promoted to real researchers

Credit: Frederik Wolff Nisbeth Teglhus

Great potential to improve environmental monitoring

Among other things, the scientific results of this project show that both the invasive fish species, the round goby, and the toxic algae Alexandrium ostenfeldii are widespread in Denmark. In fact, round gobies have not previously been registered in Limfjord.

“This method seems to be very effective in detecting many species. For example, these algae are little known in Denmark. The algae can cause shellfish poisoning and Despite being potentially dangerous to both humans, we do little to monitor them. Perhaps in collaboration with high schools, we can use this DNA method to treat toxic algae and many other species in the marine environment. We want to raise awareness that it can be used for surveillance,” says Leerhoi.

The researchers are working to make use of the data and have signed an agreement with the Danish Environmental Protection Agency, which will incorporate the project’s data into national reports on invasive species to the EU.

“We hope that this setup will inspire our international colleagues to do the same in their own countries, as it is plug-and-play and allows DNA analysis to be applied to any species or group of species of interest. ” Tottrup said.

According to the researchers, extreme citizen science can bring about real change in marine biodiversity monitoring, saying, “This will improve our monitoring and, in turn, improve marine environments, which are generally in poor condition. We don’t do monitoring.”But projects like this one collect data from large parts of the country and at the same time encourage young people to participate in science and become interested in it. It can be an effective way to motivate people to have. ” Tottrup concludes. .

The researchers hope to expand the project so that more Danish high schools have DNA laboratories.

Further information: Frederik Leerhøi et al., Exploring the potential of extreme citizen science with Danish high school students using environmental DNA for ocean monitoring, Frontiers in Marine Science (2024). DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2024.1347298

Provided by University of Copenhagen

Citation: “Extreme Citizen Science”—High School Students Become Real Researchers for Motivation and Environmental Monitoring (October 28, 2024) https://phys.org/news/2024-10-extreme-citizen- Retrieved October 28, 2024 from science-high school.html

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