Citizen Science Association

The Citizen Science Association (CSA) is a United States member-based professional organization for practitioners and researchers of citizen science, where scientific research is conducted, in whole or in part, by amateur or nonprofessional scientists. The Association aims to expand the reach, relevance, and impact of science and research in the United States and internationally. The CSA was founded in 2013 in the United States and was recognized as a charitable organization with a 501c3 designated status in June 2017.

History
The concept for the Citizen Science Association originated at the Public Participation for Scientific Research Conference in 2012 held in conjunction with the Ecological Society of America conference in Portland, Oregon. Through a series of NSF grants (DRL-0610363, DRL-1020909, and DRL-0813135) the network of citizen science projects and professionals was further developed and the Citizen Science Association formation as an official organization developed along with a website. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology hosted the beginning of the Association web content and the Schoodic Institute helped launch the organization and is a continuing fiscal sponsor the CSA.

Activities
Activities of the association include conferences, collaborations, a academic journal and various working groups.

The association holds a professional focused conference series every two years for the practitioner and research community to discuss the best practices in citizen science titled the Citizen Science Association Conference or CitSciXXXX where XXXX would be replaced by the year. For example, CitSci2019 was held March 13–19, 2019. The association has a board of directors elected by the members and a collection of professional working groups establishing standards, identifying best practices, focusing research, building technology, and exploring the ethics of Citizen Science.

The Citizen Science Association has a memorandum of understanding with other Citizen Science Associations for collaboration and coordination. These other organizations include the European Citizen Science Association, the Australian Citizen Science Association, and the forming communities and associations in Asia (CitizenScience.Asia) and Africa. The United Nations officially recognised the Citizen Science Association and is working with the Citizen Science Global Partnership on how citizen science can best be applied to help tackle the Sustainable Development Goals.

Citizen Science: Theory and Practice journal
The association has an open source peer reviewed journal called Citizen Science: Theory and Practice published by Ubiquity Press on behalf of the association. The journal provides a venue for citizen science researchers and practitioners to share best practices in conceiving, developing, implementing, evaluating, and sustaining projects that facilitate public participation in scientific endeavors in any discipline. The journal includes reports on research, reviews and synthesis, case studies, essays, methods, and meeting reports. It is published online throughout the year along with special article collections.

Citizen Science Association working groups
The working groups as with many professional organizations focus on priority areas of the science and practice of citizen science. As of February 2020 the following nine working groups have formed.


 * 1) Citizen Science Month
 * 2) Data and Metadata
 * 3) Education
 * 4) Ethics
 * 5) Environmental Justice Practitioners
 * 6) Integrity, Diversity, and Equity
 * 7) Law and Policy
 * 8) Professional Development
 * 9) Research and Evaluation