The conference ‘Citizen Science in Academia’ was held in Dublin’s Museum of Literature Ireland (MoLI) on St Stephen’s Green in Dublin on Monday 08 December 2025.
This conference is part of the Leveraging Education to Advance Research in Citizen Science (LEARnS) project, funded by the UCD ReClaim initiative, funded by Wellcome Institutional Fund for Research Culture.
Friday 14th November 2025 at 10:30 to 12:30 in Library Link 3 of the James Joyce Library.
Dorota Kolbuk from the School of Biology and Environmental Science presented examples of how citizen science can support marine and coastal research efforts, whether through occasional events like a BioBlitz, (a BioBlitz is a 24 or 48 hour event to find and record as many of the species in a given area as possible) or ongoing programs such as the Coastwatch annual survey.
The UCD Citizen Science Community of Practice and UCD Sustainability were delighted to welcome Sophia Meeres from the UCD School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy and Dheeraj Rathore from Teagasc who presented about the Ash for Future project and explained how citizens can get involved.
The UCD Citizen Science Community of Practice is delighted to welcome Dr. Joseph Roche from Trinity College Dublin who will present about the EU-Citizen.Science (ECS) platform. Whether you’re leading a project or simply curious about integrating citizen science into your academic practice, this talk will offer insights into leveraging the platform for discovery, connection, and impact.
Ecologist Jess Leonard led a citizen science project that invited participants to knit a tiny scarf (all materials were provided) while talking about soil ecology and care. The tiny scarf is used as a measuring device and buried within the topsoil to gauge soil life activity and health. In the lab participants looked at soil life from previously buried scarves under the microscopes and Jess talked about how to implement changes to protect and care for our soils for sustainable soil biodiversity in our own environments.
Dr Dean Phelan and Dr Rachel McArdle presenting the CONUNDRUM project, 24th February 2025, in the James Joyce Library, UCD. They described how they worked in collaboration with the residents, business and policymakers in Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, to identify the problems facing local people in relation to transportation and mobility.
Prof Mary Kelly-Quinn gave a brief overview of the project before introducing three members of the ‘River Detectives’ group who explained the role of these organisms in assessing stream water quality in Wicklow. They shared their results from fieldwork, and offered firsthand insights from their experience as citizen scientists.
On Wednesday 25 Sept 2024, I-CHANGE’s Anna Molter and Juan Esteban Quintero gave a presentation on this project. Anna and Juan explored how Dublin’s communities are turning climate knowledge into impactful action. Over the past three years, the I-CHANGE project has empowered citizens, schools, and local organisations to tackle pressing environmental challenges through innovative Living Labs. Discover how participants have monitored air quality and traffic, analyzed data, and implemented meaningful changes to reduce their carbon footprints.
In this talk members of the Network for insect vectors in Ireland (NetVec Ireland) research project explained how to identify adult mosquitoes and invasive species and how to collect and identify mosquito larvae. Live specimens and microscopes were made available on the day to illustrate specific characteristics. Attendees had the opportunity to get involved as the team will be seeking volunteers to take part in their midge and mosquito surveillance project over the summer.
This workshop facilitated by Colette Kirwan and Alison Boyle from Science Foundation Ireland provided an opportunity for staff, researchers and stakeholders working or interested in citizen science initiatives to engage in a measured discussion regarding funding strategies.
On 24 January 2024, UCD’s Emma Teeling and Bat Conservation Ireland’s Niamh Roche delivered a captivating exploration on the Bats and Bugs project and the fascinating world of Irish bats and their vital role in pest insect consumption.
Mapping Green Dublin was an EPA-funded collaborative action research project led by the UCD School of Geography’s Gerald Mills, Niamh Moore-Cherry, and Alma Clavin in collaboration with arts organisation Common Ground (Siobhán Geoghegan and Ger Nolan), artist Seoidín O’Sullivan and Connect the Dots (Naomi Murphy and Marisa Denker).
Communicating research findings in Citizen Science projects is important – and ArcGIS StoryMaps is one of the tools which can be used to do this. This training session is open to UCD researchers, academics, staff, and PhDs only and takes place in the Information Skills Room at the Health Sciences Centre on Wednesday 8 November …
Read more “Creating an Online Story with ArcGIS StoryMaps, Wednesday 8 November 2023.”
This talk will tell the story of what Creating Our Future achieved and how researchers and policy makers may use the findings in their work.
On 20 September 2023, Niamh Burke and Dr Mark Pickering (UCD School of Medicine) gave a fascinating talk about how they set about and succeeded in building (using 3D printing) a low-cost, open-source and easy to build microscope that can measure microplastics in the sea.
In “The Decade of Citizen Science is here: Be part of it”, Martin Brocklehurst outlined how citizen science can provide meaningful democratic and economic input and buy-in to deliver a liveable future.
On 11 May 2023, Professor Will Dixon spoke about how public involvement and citizen science was embedded into the digital epidemiology research project Cloudy with a Chance of Pain as part of the UCD Engaged Research seminar series.
On 29 March 2023, “Citizen Science and the rural place in Ireland” hybrid event discussed two UCD citizen science projects which use digital technologies to enhance our understanding of rural places, populations, and culture – past and present.
Prof Muki Haklay, University College London, delivered an a UCD Engaged Research virtual seminar on 8 March 2023 exploring “Doing excellent research with citizen science – opportunities and challenges”.
On 27 February 2023, Professor Francesco Pilla and Professor Mary Kelly-Quinn had an engaging conversation on what citizen science can do, chaired by Dr Aoibhinn Ni Shuilleabhain.