How healthy are Australia’s ecosystems? To answer that, scientists need data. But Australia is huge – and the number of professional scientists is limited. That’s where citizen science can help.

Every winter, thousands of grey nomads take to the roads and head north. Families return to familiar campgrounds for school holidays. Bushwalkers move through forests and along coastlines. School students catch invertebrates in rivers to learn about waterway health.

Each of these groups – and many more – can collect data vital to conservation efforts. When a citizen scientist uploads a photo of a flower, frog or animal to a central repository such as iNaturalist and eBird, anyone can see it and the location, date and time it was observed.

Citizen science – public participation and collaboration in scientific research – is coming of age. Increasingly, professional scientists are partnering with citizen scientists – and making requests.

Australia faces rapid biodiversity loss, shifting species distributions and widespread ecological change. To respond, scientists and authorities need long-term, standardised monitoring. Professional scientists cannot achieve this alone. No wonder former Chief Scientist Ian Chubb called for grey nomads and others to lend a hand.

Old debates over the accuracy and reliability of the data are being drowned out by mounting evidence showing citizen scientists are providing high-quality information.

One of the most valuable........

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