Getting to Know Other Ways of Knowing: Boundary Experiences in Citizen Science

Abstract

This article uses the concept of boundaries (Akkerman and Bakker 2011) to explore why collaboration in citizen science is sometimes difficult. The case study focuses on collaboration between project organizers and project volunteers in a single citizen science project. The volunteers, from a regional botanical society, experienced boundaries between their group’s practices and the citizen science project organized by a natural history museum, despite similar ways of working. Organizers and volunteers responded to boundary experiences by defining their respective practices and suggesting how project activities could be coordinated across boundaries. Findings from this study support practitioners’ efforts to implement citizen science projects that result in positive outcomes for organizers and volunteers by revealing how participation in a community of practice, such as a botanical society, affects volunteers’ engagement in citizen science. Suggestions are made for how project designs can be responsive to volunteers’ boundary experiences.