Our Loons: Person-Place Relationships within a Long-Running Citizen Science Program
Presentation Type
Oral Presentation
Category
Social Sciences/Humanities
Abstract/Artist Statement
With a call that conjures visions of secluded lakes, the Common Loon is a culturally and ecologically significant bird in the state of New Hampshire. Triggered by the species’ decline, 1975 saw the formation of the Loon Preservation Committee (LPC), a volunteer-driven non-profit organization based in Moultonborough, NH. LPC staff monitor loon success on roughly 350 lakes, which are scattered across the state. Therefore, LPC’s volunteer citizen scientists are integral to the organization’s success. Considered a form of pro-environmental behavior, citizen science is the involvement of the public in scientific research. When participating in their familiar landscapes, citizen scientists can contribute valuable time, access, and knowledge to projects that may otherwise be under-resourced.
While working as an LPC field biologist, I engaged with volunteers that have supported the organization for decades. Volunteers frequently admitted feeling protective of, or responsible for, the loons’ success, often referring to the pair they monitor as “our loons.” Many also shared stories symbolizing their personal attachments to their lakes. Place attachment can be understood as the bond that forms between people and their environments. With a history of community-based monitoring and expression of emotional attachment among its volunteers, LPC provides a case study for examining place attachment among citizen science participants.
This mixed-methods study uses qualitative and quantitative data to understand place attachment and motivations among LPC volunteers. In 2022, I distributed a quantitative survey to LPC’s volunteers, yielding a 59% response rate. This survey collected data on demographics, conservation identity, attachment levels, and motivations to participate in the organization. Data analysis will compare place attachment levels between different subgroups, such as long-and short-term volunteers. I will also compare the motivations of volunteers that self-identified as conservationists and those that did not. Given the nuance of person-place relationships, I am conducting follow-up interviews with participants. I will use the interview data to explore connections between participants’ identities and their involvement in loon conservation. Finally, I will use the interviews to understand how participants’ relationships with loons have changed after volunteering with LPC. Collectively, this study aims to better understand how place attachment may be used to create, and bolster participation in, meaningful citizen science programs.
Mentor Name
Fletcher Brown
Personal Statement
Since stepping into the western landscape, I have become fascinated by individual and collective attachments to place. Place attachment can be understood as the bond that forms between people and their environments. By studying the role of person-place relationships in conservation, we can better understand our behaviors, such as the choice to protect a certain landscape at the polls. Person-place relationships develop through complex processes and experiences. Multiple studies have found a correlation between place attachment and pro-environmental behavior. However, more information is needed about place attachment in the context of citizen science, or the involvement of the public in scientific research. By partnering with the Loon Preservation Committee (LPC), a citizen science-driven organization, my study aims to understand place attachment and motivations to participate among LPC’s volunteers. This research may support future programming to fully utilize the time and knowledge citizen scientists can contribute to conservation. During one interview with an active volunteer, the participant described the deeply emotional connection she has developed with the loons on her lake. She is fiercely protective of the birds, regarding them as both stunning wildlife and companions, each with a distinct personality. The participant described the notebooks she has filled while watching the loons from her house. Her observations are detailed, timestamped, and mirror those of a field biologist; she describes weather conditions, loon behavior, human interactions, nest failures, and more. While her loon stories are often flowery and meandering, she has created a nearly decade-long record of the species’ activity on her lake. However, western science, which salutes objectivity, might overlook this valuable data, as it is interlaced with the participant’s love of “her” loons. Organizations like LPC, which elevate the contributions of citizen science, create space for this type of local ecological knowledge to inform real management decisions.
Our Loons: Person-Place Relationships within a Long-Running Citizen Science Program
UC 330
With a call that conjures visions of secluded lakes, the Common Loon is a culturally and ecologically significant bird in the state of New Hampshire. Triggered by the species’ decline, 1975 saw the formation of the Loon Preservation Committee (LPC), a volunteer-driven non-profit organization based in Moultonborough, NH. LPC staff monitor loon success on roughly 350 lakes, which are scattered across the state. Therefore, LPC’s volunteer citizen scientists are integral to the organization’s success. Considered a form of pro-environmental behavior, citizen science is the involvement of the public in scientific research. When participating in their familiar landscapes, citizen scientists can contribute valuable time, access, and knowledge to projects that may otherwise be under-resourced.
While working as an LPC field biologist, I engaged with volunteers that have supported the organization for decades. Volunteers frequently admitted feeling protective of, or responsible for, the loons’ success, often referring to the pair they monitor as “our loons.” Many also shared stories symbolizing their personal attachments to their lakes. Place attachment can be understood as the bond that forms between people and their environments. With a history of community-based monitoring and expression of emotional attachment among its volunteers, LPC provides a case study for examining place attachment among citizen science participants.
This mixed-methods study uses qualitative and quantitative data to understand place attachment and motivations among LPC volunteers. In 2022, I distributed a quantitative survey to LPC’s volunteers, yielding a 59% response rate. This survey collected data on demographics, conservation identity, attachment levels, and motivations to participate in the organization. Data analysis will compare place attachment levels between different subgroups, such as long-and short-term volunteers. I will also compare the motivations of volunteers that self-identified as conservationists and those that did not. Given the nuance of person-place relationships, I am conducting follow-up interviews with participants. I will use the interview data to explore connections between participants’ identities and their involvement in loon conservation. Finally, I will use the interviews to understand how participants’ relationships with loons have changed after volunteering with LPC. Collectively, this study aims to better understand how place attachment may be used to create, and bolster participation in, meaningful citizen science programs.