This map details where the motivationof the citizen science volunteers stems from and how the volunteers continue to stay motivated to work.

Thematic map of volunteers' motivation

- Micro-level of participation
- Macro-level of participation 
- Super-volunteers

Level of activity in which volunteers can categorized into

Motivation instills in these individuals through: 

- interest in the research topic, 
- learning new information, 
- contributing to original research,
- enjoying the research task,
- sharing the same goals and values as the project, 
- helping others and feeling part of a team, 
- recognition of contribution and feedback on contribution

Ohio State University, Columbus

Albion College

The volunteers are not compensated for the work and most of them are not even scientists, but their passion for nature and concerns over environmental issues motivate them to donate their time and effort to projects such as this one. They are an essential part of the research and form a collaborative relationship with the scientists involved.

Why do citizens participate in research?

Jennett, Charlene; Kloetzer, Laure; Schneider, Daniel; Iacovides, Ioanna; Cox, Anna; Gold, Margaret; Fuchs, Brian; Eveleigh, Alexandra; Methieu, Kathleen; Ajani, Zoya and Talsi, Yasmin (2016). Motivations, learning and creativity in online citizen science. Journal of Science Communication, 15(3), article no. A05. 

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