Online citizen science projects engage volunteers in
collecting, analyzing, and curating scientific data. Existing
projects have demonstrated the value of using volunteers to
collect data, but few projects have reached the full
collaborative potential of scientists and volunteers.
Understanding the shared and unique motivations of these
two groups can help designers establish the technical and
social infrastructures needed to promote effective
partnerships. We present findings from a study of the
motivational factors affecting participation in ecological
citizen science projects. We show that volunteers are
motivated by a complex framework of factors that
dynamically change throughout their cycle of work on
scientific projects; this motivational framework is strongly
affected by personal interests as well as external factors
such as attribution and acknowledgment. Identifying the
pivotal points of motivational shift and addressing them in
the design of citizen-science systems will facilitate
improved collaboration between scientists and volunteers.