We have created a number of different ways in which citizen scientists are involved. Sometimes it means we are collaborating with, for example, the Museum of Nature or Carleton University researchers. We are a conduit to engage the volunteers, provide the training materials and set them up for success in the work they would be doing.
With our road salt monitoring, it involved training citizen scientists to learn how to use the conductivity meters and how to submit the data points. Sometimes it is about the doing, but there is also opportunity for co-creation, especially when we are collaborating with indigenous communities and Algonquin communities.
The watershed is almost exactly the unceded land of the Algonquin Anishinabe. Working with the indigenous guardians program at Kitigan Zibi First Nation, for example, we have an opportunity to be co-creating, but also to be careful about the data sharing. In most cases, we are very transparent about sharing data, but we want to ensure we are doing this with full respect for the indigenous communities in order to make sure they have control over the data and how it is shared. There are a number of different ways of involvement, depending on what we're monitoring. There is also a role for the Ottawa Riverkeeper. We are confident that citizen scientists can be involved in all of those steps you outlined.
