But not always. People who volunteer to participate in studies often are themselves scientists or science teachers and their students. Or they may be conservation group members or staffers, experienced bird-watchers, backpackers or hikers, or other outdoor enthusiasts. In other words, citizen scientists are typically people who care about the wild, feel at home in nature, and have at least some awareness of the scientific process.
“Some of the data will be of variable quality,” Tierney admits. In such cases, Tierney and others say, the scientists who direct studies involving volunteers have to be prepared to scrutinize the data carefully and be willing to discard suspect or unreliable data.