Science and Research Committee on Feb. 7th, 2023

[Charles Ennis]

I think the principle problem was that until 2018 we didn't pay any attention to inclusivity and diversity. We talked a lot about translating things and didn't put a lot of effort into it.

I was a co-founder of the inclusivity and diversity committee that we created in 2018. We are now working on getting those members back—and members from all kinds of other cultural organizations as well. We had more members joining during the pandemic than leaving, and I think that was an indication that it is beginning to work.

We are definitely concerned about that and we are definitely working on that.

[Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, Bloc, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Ennis.

I notice that you have a diversity and inclusiveness committee. You mentioned that you are a member of the committee. Does this committee have any criteria on linguistic diversity?

[Charles Ennis]

We have committed to translating all our observing programs into French. In fact, we just started doing that. One of our members of the Montreal centre couldn't start earlier, because she was working on her master's degree. We didn't want to interfere with that. We also have connections with Astronomers Without Borders and offers to translate into other languages. We recently had an offer to translate it all into Mandarin, for example.

Yes, we want to make it extremely accessible, and that's the way we intend to go about it.

[Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, Bloc, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Ennis.

I would be curious to learn how you finance your activities: do you operate solely on donations, or do you receive funding from the federal government?

[Charles Ennis]

We receive funding for summer students. We got a CEBA grant during the pandemic. We have applied for grants like the New Horizons program, for example, to include more senior mentor activity. For the last six years we have had a fundraiser working on grants from other programs, such as the Trottier foundation, to help enhance programs and tackle problems like light abatement and diversity.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Corey Tochor]

Thank you so much for that.

For the final two and a half minutes, we will go to MP Cannings.

[Richard Cannings, NDP, South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

Thank you.

I'm going to direct this question to Mr. LeBaron.

You mentioned in your statement at the start how some of this data is used by the Canadian government through groups like COSEWIC, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, which makes decisions as to whether species are threatened or endangered or other categories. Those decisions are, of course, based on data.

For full disclosure, I used to sit on that committee. We had far more data on birds than we had on anything else, whether it was fish or plants or mammals. We had that data because of these citizen science projects that spanned many decades and covered the country.

I'm just wondering if you could comment on that, on why it's so important to have these programs. Not only does it save the government money; this is also the only way we can do this. It's producing data that's very useful in conservation issues, as I think Mr. Lobb was alluding to.

[Geoffrey S. LeBaron]

Citizen science datasets are just incredibly powerful and long term. For the Christmas bird count and other ones, and eventually eBird as more data gets entered into the past, we're able to actually track longer and longer periods back through time to understand what's happening in the present and what's likely to be happening in the future. Having these datasets available for analysis by ornithologists but also for the use of legislators helps us understand what's happening to not only the birds but other stuff as well. We actually look at a lot of things habitat-wise, and birds, as I said, are wonderful indicators of the quality of the environment for everything. They're indicator species.

Having these amazingly powerful datasets helps us understand what's going on in the natural groups, but it also really helps in getting the citizen scientists themselves engaged with science, understanding what's going on and caring about the environment and conservation. It's a two-pronged thing, really. Yes, the data are very valuable for analysis, but it's also about developing another community of people who are willing to step up and help promote legislation to their own governments. That's around the hemisphere now.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Corey Tochor]

Thank you so much to all our witnesses. We are out of time, unfortunately.

We will now suspend briefly before we move on to our next panel.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Corey Tochor]

Welcome back, everybody.

I would like to make a few comments before we get started with our new witnesses.

Please wait until I recognize you by name before speaking. For those taking part via video conference, click on the microphone icon to activate your mike and please mute yourself when you're not speaking. Interpretation on Zoom is found in the bottom corner.

I remind everyone that all comments should be addressed through the chair. You can direct them to whatever witness you would like to hear from.

I would now like to start with the opening statements by our witnesses.

We'll start first online with Mr. Lawrie.

[David Lawrie, Program Director, Citizen Scientists]

Thank you for the chance to address the committee.

I'm going to talk about our group a little bit and our experience with the role of citizen science. We're definitely on a different scale than the last group you talked to. We're a small NGO in the east end of Toronto. We operate in what's now the Rouge Urban National Park. We've been operating there for 21 years. We have a lot of experience, but in terms of scale and scope, our experiences are different from those of the other groups you've talked to.

The value we in Citizen Scientists perceive is that we can really fill a lot of gaps that other agencies and organizations don't currently fill. We have become a niche organization that helps to fill those gaps. We're a lot more flexible and adaptable than a much larger group, such as a conservation authority or ministry, can be. If we want to go and monitor something else next week, we can do that. We don't need the approval of a board. We don't need approved budget line items. We can use our own equipment and our own labour to go do that. We're quite flexible and adaptable in that way.

The other thing that's really of benefit from a science perspective is that we are on the ground a lot. We often have members who are activists or scientists. They are from the local areas. They really know the landscape more than any other agencies or biologists from the ministry, for example, do. They're there all the time, every month of the year, for years upon years. We can see changes that occur. We try to systematically document those changes.

When you have a ministry or there is a larger program that does the work, they come through once every decade and they do a day of surveying. Our understanding of the local systems is different from what that of a biologist from another agency might be.

The role we play in the landscape and the world around us is largely dictated by those who are in charge of the land. We're in southern Ontario. We're not a major landowner. We're on land that's owned by someone else—the government, private organizations, conservation authorities or something like that. We are there trying to observe the world, but we often need permission and an invitation to participate in those discussions about how the land is managed or operated. The role is defined for us in large part.

When you talk about citizen science, there's often confusion between what science is and what activism, involvement or engagement is. We try to do actual science. We do a lot more detailed work than some of the other groups might do. They are more activist-focused. Their primary role is trying to raise awareness.

If you're looking to encourage citizen science over time, we need to consider that there are two ends of the spectrum. There's the organization that wants the data or the government that wants the information, and there's the application of the individuals collecting the data.

There are also the guys who do that work on a volunteer basis. They have wants and needs as well. Some of them want to have some increased training to build their skill set, but often they want to see changes in the world. That's why they are out doing the work. They want to see something that concerns them get changed, rectified or managed better.

That's one thing you have to think about. The encouragement and involvement by the citizen science community in doing something meaningful and actual is really a role that needs to be encouraged, to help expand their roles.

I guess you guys saw, in the first presentation, that there are two scales of monitoring or research they encourage with citizen science. The first role or the first stream originated years ago. There were primarily expert naturalists and retired professionals who had a lot of background in that field. They wanted to continue their role in the world and help other agencies and scientists fill gaps. There was a lot more on-the-ground monitoring and measuring of the real world around them, so that requires primitive field equipment and that sort of thing.

The more recent adaptation has been—

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Corey Tochor]

We're going to have to explore some of your comments more in the answers to questions, because we are over time already.

We are moving on to Madam Hull, please.

[Juliet Hull, National Volunteer Coordinator, Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network]

Hello. Thank you for allowing me to speak in front of you today. It is an honour.

Today I'm representing Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network Canada, from here on in referred to as CoCoRaHS Canada. This is an international precipitation reporting network that has thousands of volunteers in the U.S., Canada and the Bahamas.

The network started in 1998 out of Colorado State University and expanded into Canada in 2011 following a massive flood in Manitoba. In the first year, the network gained 80 active volunteer observers. As of January 31, 2023, there are 843 active volunteer observers in Canada.

Not only has the network grown to 10 times its size from the first year, but over the years there has been a steady increase in the number of reports each volunteer makes per year. All of this is to say that CoCoRaHS Canada has been able not only to keep a network of enthusiastic and consistent volunteers but to also steadily increase it.

There are several key ideas that we attribute to the continued success. These include strong partnerships, reliable local coordinators, enthusiastic volunteers, an accessible website, detailed training, simple low-cost equipment and an easy reporting system.

Identifying partners who are interested not only in the subject matter of the program but also in the data collected, with the ability to adapt it locally, is key. Being able to identify groups that would not only willingly work with you but that want to work with you is an important first step in building a citizen science volunteer network. Examples of groups that CoCoRaHS has partnered with include agriculture groups, emergencies managers, universities and local schools, conservation areas, meteorologists, climatologists, ECCC and local municipality water management.

Having reliable local coordinators among the group of partners is a wonderful way to build up a network. These coordinators have valuable insight into people who may want to join the network, such as community members, local groups and leadership in the area. Local coordinators will better be able to connect with enthusiastic volunteers and nurture their enthusiasm to be long-lasting. Having enthusiastic volunteers means that they are intrinsically motivated to continue with reporting for longer than someone who is seeking external validation would be.

While having enthusiastic volunteers and good connections is vital, if the method in which they are reporting their findings is difficult or confusing, or the equipment that's necessary is expensive or complicated, then they are not likely to continue with the program. Finding a method of reporting that is simple, easy to learn and quick is key to keeping an established volunteer network. Even with the most valiant cause and the most enthusiastic volunteers, if the work is difficult or time-consuming, volunteers are likely to get discouraged. I believe it is vital to remember that citizen scientists are still volunteers and that as a citizen science organization we need to show that we value their time and energy.

With CoCoRaHS, there are three ways to submit reports: on our website, on our smart phone app or over the phone. With every method, it takes only about one to five minutes of day-to-day active participation. We also have training and slide shows on every single part of the reporting process available on our website at any time. The volunteers use basic practical methods to conduct their observations, which makes the program accessible to all communities.

The final thing I would like to mention is the importance of providing meaning behind participation. Ensuring that volunteers know what their hard work is being used for and who it is benefiting is one of the most vital steps to establishing a successful citizen science network. This gives the volunteers' work purpose and makes them feel as if they are making a difference. Even though their work is extremely important, if this isn't made clear, then they're likely to lose enthusiasm for the project, especially if it's meant to be long-lasting.

In CoCoRaHS, every single report that any observer across the three countries that it's run in is plotted on an interactive map that is available for the public to see, and every year all observers are given an analysis of their reports across the water year. Their different research reports, such as snow coverage reports and rainy day reports, are available on the website at any time. Observers are also made aware of the ECCC reports that their data is being used in throughout the year.

If an organization can truly make volunteers feel as if they would be making a difference and bettering the world, then that is the most important thing to successfully enhancing Canada's citizen science network.

Thank you.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Corey Tochor]

Thank you so kindly for delivering your opening remarks within five minutes. It's much appreciated.

Now we'll go to our witness in person, Madam Reinsborough.

[Laura Reinsborough, Riverkeeper and Chief Executive Officer, Ottawa Riverkeeper]

Thank you, Mr. Chair, for having me today.

Thank you, all, for looking at this topic of citizen scientists. I think you have an opportunity here, not only to validate the work but also to provide opportunities to strengthen it. I'm eager to tell you why Ottawa Riverkeeper has been engaging citizen scientists in our work as an integral part of what we've been doing for the last decade.

Ottawa Riverkeeper is a trusted, independent voice for the protection of fresh water. A charitable organization founded in 2001, we're a champion for swimmable, drinkable, fishable waters throughout the Ottawa River watershed.

Ottawa Riverkeeper's goal is to better understand and protect the ecological health of the Ottawa River watershed. We are a bilingual organization guided by a science‑based approach.

When you are in Ottawa, you are very likely drinking water from the Ottawa River—cheers. We quite literally depend on this source of life. This is a vast watershed. The Ottawa River watershed is more than twice the size of New Brunswick. It is nested in the world's largest freshwater ecosystem. The Ottawa River itself is the largest tributary to the St. Lawrence at over 1,200 kilometres long, yet we know very little about this waterway.

There are multiple overlapping jurisdictions and a sense of taking it for granted, so we're left with significant data gaps. This leaves us vulnerable and unable to make informed decisions in the best interests of both our human health and ecosystem health.

The work that Ottawa Riverkeeper does, including our watershed health assessment and monitoring initiative, which is a comprehensive suite of scientific monitoring for 14 different indicators of river health, aims to fill these gaps and inform decision-makers like yourselves.

This year we're celebrating our 10th anniversary of engaging citizen scientists. We have involved them in many different scientific studies on many different issues, and I have a few key messages to share with you today based on our experience.

Citizen scientists extend both the reach and the rewards of science. Particularly, NGOs play a critical role in ensuring that this work is done successfully. Here are a few examples of how Ottawa Riverkeeper has done this work.

In 2013, we launched our riverwatcher network. There are over 100 volunteers now who monitor monthly in their stretch of the river for water quality data, pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen and ice cover. We get a really local view regularly along the river stretch to see what is happening, like local impacts of climate change, for example.

In 2015, we worked with the Canadian Museum of Nature to have citizen scientists monitor zebra mussel infestations. That same year, we launched in the city of Gatineau, the island of Hull, looking at E. coli contamination from combined sewer overflows and whether beaches were really healthy to swim at.

Then in 2015, we collaborated with Dr. Jesse Vermaire from Carleton University to look at microplastics in fresh water, and it was the largest group of citizen scientists collecting data on microplastics in a freshwater ecosystem worldwide. We recently co-authored a paper with Dr. Jesse Vermaire.

Last year we had 157 different citizen scientists monitoring across various programs: algae blooms, conductivity testing for road salt chloride levels, total phosphorus, and chlorophyll a.

We are testing and trying to engage citizen scientists across many of our programs because they extend our reach. The geographic reach in such a huge watershed is so much more than what our small team can achieve. It really is exponential in allowing us to monitor across the whole watershed. It also expands our capacity for monitoring the frequency with which we could monitor and, very importantly, they bring local knowledge, which enriches the data and also informs better decision-making based on that data.

They extend the rewards. We believe that people protect what they love, and they love what they know and understand, what they're familiar with. Citizen scientists have this direct hands-on engagement by knowing the river, and this translates to more and more people actively engaged in protecting those waterways.

Critical to all this success are ENGOs, like Ottawa Riverkeeper. We're trusted. We have connection with community, which lends credibility and brings in people to be involved in this work.

This is where we can offer long-term support, if we have funding and the capacity to make sure that we can be a strong third sector supporting citizen scientists and decision-makers.

Thank you.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Corey Tochor]

Thank you so much for that.

We now move onto the six-minute round.

From the Conservatives, we have MP Mazier.

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa, MB]

Thank you, Chair.

Ms. Hull, thank you for being here today.

You just reminded me in your opening remarks about why I got involved with CoCoRaHS. I was a volunteer for about a decade. It was a 2011 flood that actually got me involved, realizing that there was a lack of data in our area and on our farm.

As a result, the 2014 flood showed the missing data. Again, our farm got hammered, with over 180% of normal precipitation that year. The data does speak for itself and the volunteer efforts.... I recognize that right off the hop.

I did also realize that CoCoRaHS seems to be reliant on a small number of staff and coordinators across this nation to keep it going. I was wondering what happens when a key member of the organizations leaves.

Where is that data kept? How does ECCC help you out with maintaining your organization and input with that data?

[Juliet Hull]

You are currently looking at the entire staff of CoCoRaHS Canada. It's just me working for the organization.

I also have my ECCC contact, Rick Fleetwood, who has been with the organization since it started in Canada. He has been indispensable. Sadly, he retired around October of last year. He has come back twice now on casual contracts, but he is definitely done for good in March. While there is a succession plan, losing someone who has been with the program for so long and has so much knowledge built up from years of experience working with it is really difficult.

When CoCoRaHS first started expanding around 2013, we received a big contract from ECCC, as well as AAFC. That was a five-year contract. That was when there were, I believe, three or four other coordinators across the country who were able to focus in on just Manitoba, just B.C., just the Maritimes and just Ontario. That contract ended in 2018.

In 2020, another contract was signed with ECCC, but for substantially less. We haven't been able to build that infrastructure back up, which definitely has had an impact on our ability to expand in certain regions.

Rick has been great because he's been able to connect me with different branches of the government that are interested in applying the program. For example, we're currently in talks with the Nunavut government on expanding the program there. We currently only have one observer there and with this program, we're looking to get anywhere from 12 to 24 observers, which is wonderful. I don't think I would have been able to do that without Rick's connections because Nunavut is such a different culture. There are language barriers sometimes.

In order to truly expand and strengthen the network, we need to have people across the country on the inside helping us out.

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa, MB]

It definitely speaks to the strength of having those volunteers in place. It's almost a shame to see them all kind of disintegrate. Then there's government trying to consolidate instead of enhancing and making that network grow.

Thank you for bringing that point forward today. Hopefully, we can act on that moving forward.

You're part of the United States, as well. I guess that's where the main part of this process or initiative started. Are there parts of the United States that outperforming Canada? Do you know any reason why the United States seems to be almost thriving?

Is there something different we can do here in Canada as far as government, versus the United States?

[Juliet Hull]

As far as the government is concerned, I can't really speak on that, but I know that in the States, they have somewhere between five and 15 local coordinators per state. For example, Massachusetts is a relatively small state, but there are six local coordinators just for that state.

As well, I've been told by my colleagues in Colorado that the American population is very weather obsessed. The general population already has a different viewpoint on weather and reporting on weather, which can create some differences in the number of people willing to sign up and report.

However, I truly think it's the lack of coordinators across the country that has limited our expansion.

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa, MB]

What are the future plans for CoCoRaHS?

[Juliet Hull]

Mainly, right now, we're focusing on expanding into the territories, because we have one observer in Nunavut, two in the Northwest Territories and one in Yukon. The north is a very important place to get weather data, especially when looking into things like climate change, so we're focusing on and really pushing into the north.

We've been working with the Nunavut government and the Northwest Territories government. We're trying to plant the seed at the head of the government, and then they're able to trickle down to different organizations within the territory. I know that in Nunavut, they're reaching out to the hunters associations and the fisheries, which would be very interested in the data.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Corey Tochor]

Thank you so much for that. We are out of time for that round.

We're moving on to MP Bradford for six minutes.

[Valerie Bradford, Liberal, Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Welcome to all three of our witnesses today.

This is the inaugural parliamentary committee dedicated to science and research. We had the opportunity to look at big science in earlier studies and moon shots most recently. Now it's so important that we have a chance to speak to you about citizen science, which is a very cost-effective means of on-the-ground observation and data collection. It's a very important piece of the puzzle.

I think the first couple of questions will go directly to Mr. Lawrie and Ms. Reinsborough, because it strikes me that you're both doing very similar sorts of research, but in different watersheds. Mr. Lawrie is with the Rouge River in the Toronto area and you, of course, are here with the Ottawa River.

Maybe David can start first, because he was first up. What aspects of research, such as study design, data collection, data analysis, evaluation, monitoring and knowledge dissemination does citizen science contribute in your organization?

[David Lawrie]

For our group, we follow standard protocols. We use OSAP as a base to collect standardized fisheries, channel data and thermal data from the stream. For forests, we'll do EMAN or salamander plots to look at the biodiversity of the forest and salamander population. We'll then do other formalized standard protocols for other tentative ecological research.

We don't produce a lot of technical reports, because we don't have the capacity. We are entirely volunteer-run and -operated, so we have enough trouble just trying to get people out to collect data.

We make the data available to other researchers and the local governments if they want it, and we try to encourage them to take it and use it when we have the ability to do that. We've provided our data to U of T, and worked with academics and Ph.Ds to produce scientific papers on the data we've helped to collect.

That's where we're trying to do the dissemination. It's through other organizations that have that capacity to get the information out there through academics and local schools, primarily like Centennial and U of T.