Individual who is part of a network by sending observations and data that are taken and transmitted through modern communication tools, like smartphones, to a central database.

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

- Human Sensor
- Monitoring
- Civic Educator
- Citizen Researcher
- Project-Specific Terms

List of Important Terminology in Citizen Science

Eitzel, M. V., Cappadonna, J. L., Santos-Lang, C., Duerr, R. E., Virapongse, A., West, S. E., Kyba, C. C., Bowser, A., Cooper, C. B., Sforzi, A., Metcalfe, A. N., Harris, E. S., Thiel, M., Haklay, M., Ponciano, L., Roche, J., Ceccaroni, L., Shilling, F. M., Dörler, D., … Jiang, Q. (2017). Citizen science terminology matters: Exploring key terms. Citizen Science: Theory and Practice, 2(1), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.5334/cstp.96 

Reference for the Importance of Terminology in Citizen Science

Human Sensor

Individual that creates educational opportunities and/or provides information for people with the purpose of paving a path for greater civic engagement.


Civic Educator

Individual leading an activity or performing independent or collaborative research as the lead investigator.

Citizen Researcher

Specific terms that may be appropriate or preferred for specific projects or by specific participants.

Project-Specific Terms

In the context of citizen science, monitoring is defined as the continual tracking or taking of repeated measures. This approach focuses on consistent data collection to identify and analyze trends over time.

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