Poster Australian Marine Sciences Association 2022

Enhancing citizen science engagement through museum exhibitions: Spot it. Log it. Map it. (#498)

Sue-Ann Watson 1 2 , Jan M Strugnell 3 , Gretta T Pecl 4 5
  1. Biodiversity and Geosciences Program, Museum of Tropical Queensland, Queensland Museum Network, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
  2. ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
  3. Centre for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries and Aquaculture and College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
  4. Centre for Marine Socioecology, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
  5. Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

We’re in an era of unprecedented climate change. How can citizen science and museum exhibitions promote public understanding of this issue and engagement?

Spot it. Log it. Map it. Is an exhibition developed for the Museum of Tropical Queensland, the Townsville campus of the Queensland Museum Network. Established to showcase Redmap (the Range Extension Database and Mapping Project) in Queensland, the exhibition highlights the need for an army of citizen sciences to spot marine animals moving along Queensland’s huge coast in response to rapid environmental change. A museum exhibition provided an excellent promotional and engagement tool for this project.

Here we share the processes involved in developing the exhibition, as well as the success of the learning initiatives associated with the display that encouraged younger visitors to get involved. We hope to help spark curiosity in engaging with museums for science outreach and to foster lifelong learning, especially in the citizen science arena.