Planning and Executing Scientifically Sound Community Science in a Public-Facing Institution

Abstract

The Genetics of Taste (GOT) Lab is an active research lab that studies human genetics at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. In addition to the scientific research it conducts, the now-10-year-old lab is designed to accommodate two forms of public participation: community (citizen) science and crowdsourcing participants (human subjects). These crowdsourced participants provide a diverse sample for collecting taste and genetics data, and typically spend about 30 minutes in the Lab during enrollments. Alternatively, the community scientists invest a much more significant amount of time; they volunteer five hours weekly to train and then to assist in all aspects of the Lab’s research, including data collection, DNA extraction, and manuscript preparation. This case study featuring the GOT Lab’s pilot project, the Bitter Study, highlights three key topics: the ability to replicate established findings in the taste field using a community science model; the learning experiences of participants; and best practices and recommendations for other institutions that might wish to develop and implement a similar bi-level community-science model. Here we present data to illustrate that both the scientific and educational goals of community science and crowdsourcing are attainable within the same working space.

Keywords

• community science
• citizen science
• museum
• human-subject research
• genetics