Collaborative Research Efforts for Citizen Scientists (Poster abstract)

Volume 40 number 1 (2012)

Brian K. Kloppenborg

2499 S. Colorado Boulevard, Apt. 803, Denver, CO 80222; brian.kloppenborg@du.edu

Aaron Price

3238 N. Clark Street, Apt. 2F, Chicago, IL 60657; address email correspondence to R. Turner at rebecca@aavso.org

Rebecca Turner

AAVSO Headquarters, 49 Bay State Road, Cambridge, MA 02138

Arne A. Henden

AAVSO Headquarters, 49 Bay State Road, Cambridge, MA 02138

Robert E. Stencel

University of Denver, Department of Physics and Astronomy, 2112 E. Wesley Avenue, Denver, CO 80208; rstencel@du.edu

Abstract

(Abstract only) The AAVSO’s Citizen Sky project encourages participants not just to collect and categorize data, but to critically analyze and publish research findings. Our participants form teams of different yet complementary skills that work together towards a common goal. Each team has a leader and a professional astronomer assigned to act as an advisor. In this work we explore the formation of teams, by what means they find research topics, and how they manage their collaborations. We acknowledge support from the NSF Informal Science Education Division under grant DRL-0840188 to the AAVSO and the University of Denver.