Confluence: Linking Citizen Science and Extension Education to Inspire Environmental Stewardship

Authors

• Dave Smaldone, US Fish and Wildlife ServiceFollow
• Evan Harms, West Virginia University
• Jason Burnside, West Virginia UniversityFollow
• Chad Pierskalla, West Virginia UniversityFollow
• Jinyang Deng, Texas A & M UniversityFollow

Volume

64

Issue

3

Abstract

Citizen science has rapidly moved beyond simply crowdsourcing data to become a novel platform for environmental and informal science education. However, few studies document the informal learning outcomes of citizen science, particularly in youth or Extension education. This quantitative study evaluated individual learning outcomes of an environmental education and citizen science experience about water quality at 4-H summer camps. Outcomes of interest, knowledge, and stewardship intentions were evaluated using pre- and post-participation surveys. The results showed an overall success of the program. By understanding these outcomes, we can better plan citizen-science-focused Extension learning experiences to meet strategically targeted outcomes.

Authors’ Contribution Statement

Dave Smaldone conceptualized and designed the study and its methodology. Jason Burnside, Chad Pierskalla and Jinyang Deng also contributed to the methodology. Evan Harms collected the data and provided data curation. Evan Harms and Dave Smaldone analyzed the data and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. All authors reviewed, edited, and approved the final version of the manuscript.

Data Availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Smaldone, D., Harms, E., Burnside, J., Pierskalla, C., & Deng, J. (2026). Confluence: Linking Citizen Science and Extension Education to Inspire Environmental Stewardship. Journal of Extension, 64(3), Article 3. https://doi.org/10.66752/1077-5315.8953