Our community science programs are an important part of our strategic vision to engage the public in science and nature and to protect the biodiversity and natural resources of the Duke Forest. We began our community science program in 2018 and are building our programming to continue to be fun and educational for volunteers and useful to Duke Forest staff and researchers. Please read about our active projects below.
Current Projects
Herpetofauna Community Science 2026
Engaging community scientists in monitoring the amphibians and reptiles of the Duke Forest.
- Herps 2026 – General Info (applications will open in early January for the 2026 season)
Partner Projects
Engaging community scientists in monitoring stream health and surveying bird and butterfly populations.
- See a list of active partner projects
What is “Community Science”?
At Duke Forest, we previously referred to these programs as our citizen science programs. You’ll now see that we have shifted to community science terminology. In large part, our transition to community science is an intentional way to align our language and programming with Community Engagement priorities in our Strategic Plan.
We strive to engage community members within and outside of Duke in our programming, ultimately working towards the goal of connecting more people to environmental stewardship and scientific exploration. Our word choice reflects this area of our mission. However, we know that terminology and language have important effects on the way people relate to the world around them, and we want to acknowledge the following impacts of our word choice. Please read on below:
In the scientific community, the term citizen science has been used for decades to describe programs led by academic or research institutions that involve the public in data collection. This indeed describes the work we do in our programs here at Duke Forest. However, when taken literally, the term “citizen” can be exclusive and can be a barrier to entry for some. We want to make it clear that we invite people of all ages, disciplines, and backgrounds to get involved in our programs at the Duke Forest, regardless of citizenship status. Our shift away from citizen science terminology may have that added benefit.
However, switching from citizen science to the term community science as a means to accomplish greater inclusivity can have counterproductive consequences. Community science describes an already established form of scientific research with a history of its own. Utilizing this terminology without fully acknowledging this fact can cause existing community science projects to be easily overlooked or overshadowedi. Many such projects – including community-based participatory research (CBPR), community-owned and managed research (COMR), street science, and others – are led by community members themselves, and thus do not benefit from much of the structural support that citizen science projects receive through their host institutions (like Duke Forest receives from our affiliation with Duke University). Though we now use similar terminology at Duke Forest, we want honor the importance and uniqueness of community science projects and aim to draw attention to their work.
i Cooper, Caren B., et al. “Inclusion in Citizen Science: The Conundrum of Rebranding.” Science, vol. 372, no. 6549, 2021, pp. 1386–1388., https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abi6487.
We invite you to learn more about the histories of citizen science and community science projects alike. Additionally, we welcome all interested community members to join us in researching and protecting the health of the forest ecosystem through Duke Forest Community Science.
