TRACES II: a Scientist Perspective

Can citizen science be considered actual science? 
At first, this question was quickly discarded by my postgraduate research study group as irrelevant. The topic, however, has constantly emerged during my fieldwork and interviews.

I documented the answer to this question by Carlos, the Director of one of the citizen science programs in Mexico. His response was very enlightening about the usefulness for environmental knowledge of having thousand, millions, of volunteers monitoring biodiversity. Also, it highlights the wide gaps that still exist in our knowledge of nature. Gaps, that citizen science can potentially help with.