Citizen science can play a crucial part in national monitoring – the case of plastics

In contrast to the case of bird counting I discussed in the previous episode, there are still sufficient citizen science programs that are not excepted as official data sources yet. In the past two years, I studied the case of monitoring plastics in Dutch water basins. I will share how this study came to be, explain how citizen science initiatives are playing a role now, and give insights of myself and others concerning their role in the future of plastics monitoring of freshwater.

I also sign up as a volunteer for one of the citizen science initiatives already existing in the Netherlands called Clean Rivers (Schone Rivieren) and share with you my experiences as a volunteer.