National Geographic Society: Participatory Science

The National Geographic Society seeks to support participatory science through the development or innovative use of data-driven, technology-powered tools that will increase the understanding, preservation, and protection of the planet. Applicants should design and/or implement tools that support citizen science work, particularly data collection or data analysis, in ways that create learning experiences for citizen scientists, including students.

Priority will be given to research, education, and technology projects that create and execute new digital applications, transform existing applications and products, or use current technologies to do one or more of the following:

• Teach students and other citizen scientists about the planet using experiential, crowd-sourced technology
• Encourage students and other citizen scientists who engage with these technologies and projects to build the attitudes, skills, and knowledge necessary to become stewards of the planet and contribute to solving real-world issues
• Generate data and/or develop open-source technologies that contribute to scientific inquiry and advance understanding of the planet

Additionally, all applicants should include a technologist on the project team and:

• Detail how applicants will share regular feedback from the project with citizen scientists
• Document a basic outline to create, implement, and evaluate participation
• Note any scientific or educational outputs, technology used and/or created, data quality, participant experience, outreach plans for activating the public (including students), potential planetary impacts, and considerations for legal and ethical issues surrounding intellectual property, data sharing, and attribution

Participation and data generation are of equal importance. Participation must be free for all users and cannot incorporate for-profit activities. Technologies might include mobile applications, web-based applications, or hardware and sensors with direct citizen science usage. Projects should create learning experiences through the collection of data and/or ground-truthing of data relevant to the trends or status of threatened and poorly known species, ecosystems, or human cultural/linguistic diversity.

Amount: Applicants may request up to $30,000 and may use awarded funds over one or two years.

Eligibility: Individuals who are at least 18 years old. Organizations can also apply for grants, but the person within the organization who will lead the project—not the institution—should be the applicant. Giving is on an international basis.

Link: https://www.nationalgeographic.org/grants/grant-opportunities/participatory-science/

This post was filed under: