Improving Understanding of Outcomes and Credibility of Volunteer Environmental Monitoring Programs

Volunteer environmental monitoring programs are those in which members of the public participate in scientific research, often with the intended outcome of improving or protecting the environment. This research contributes toward increasing the effectiveness of volunteer water monitoring to contribute to natural resource management and policy decisions. Three distinct but related studies address questions that focus on: a) individual and community outcomes of volunteer environmental monitoring efforts; b) connections between natural resource management and policy outcomes and volunteer water monitoring program characteristics; and c) comparison of results of volunteer and professional streamflow monitoring methods.;Identified outcomes for individuals and communities from peer-reviewed literature include observed changes in knowledge, attitudes and behavior as well as changes to social capital, governance, and natural resource management and policies. However, research on such outcomes has been limited, representing only approximately 10% of peer-reviewed articles related to volunteer environmental monitoring published through 2012. Thus, many opportunities exist to research and report on outcomes of these efforts.;Results of a survey of 345 volunteer water monitoring programs in the United States and subsequent regression analyses revealed that the program objective to address an environmental crisis, being entirely school-based (which was negatively related to reported outcomes), and program budget were the most important significant program characteristics related to natural resource management and policy outcomes. The most commonly reported outcomes were those that had an indirect impact on policy and management, which were expressed through volunteers' civic activities. The majority of reported impacts were at the town or city level, though state level impacts were also common.;In the streamflow method comparison study, the volunteer method was observed to consistently overestimate streamflow as compared to the professional method. Mixed effects models of the relationship between the two methods produced equations that can be used to correct volunteer results in databases to which volunteer data are entered. Managers can effectively use this information by taking into account their data quality needs along with the accuracy of the available data. A simple multiplicative correction factor (0.76) was also determined that is appropriate for field use to improve on-site streamflow assessments.