This is brilliant. Scientists from North Carolina
State University and the University of Florida have combined cookies, citizen
science and robust research methods to track the diversity of ant species
across the United States. The method has helped the scientists to collect more
data, more quickly, from more places than a research team could do otherwise. The
protocol involved Pecan Sandies cookies and sealable plastic bags, with
specific instructions of what should be done. More than 1,000 participants,
with samples from all 50 states, have taken part in the project since its
launch in 2011.
The project increased the public's ecological
literacy and the criticisms that public involvement made citizen science data
unreliable was turned on its head. It emphatically depicted that citizen
science is very reliable if properly guided.
Details of the study appears in the open-access
journal Ecosphere published online on July 7
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