Bringing citizen science to life: Evaluation of a national citizen science program for public benefit

The Australian citizen science research programs, VegeSafe and DustSafe, are novel and wide-reaching. Together, they capture the largest number of community-generated domestic garden soil and indoor house dust samples and associated trace metal analysis of any similar programme globally, totalling 26,500 samples from 7,200 homes in Australia alone. All citizen science research programs need to balance often conflicting expectations and imperatives of the researchers and the participants. This paper assesses VegeSafe and DustSafe participant and researcher outcomes against common goals of citizen science programs, including participant engagement, accessibility, motivations and learning in order to evaluate the programs’ impact and usefulness. Questionnaire data from 522 questionnaires were analysed which showed that VegeSafe and DustSafe have: enhanced participants’ involvement in science (76%), understanding of science (62%); addressed specific community concerns (91%); and were considered useful (93%). The success of the VegeSafe and DustSafe programs can be measured by the number of samples received, households engaged and its geographic footprint across Australia's most populated cities. The participant questionnaire provided deeper insight into positive participant outcomes, including participant autonomy in the scientific process and changes in attitudes and behaviours towards science. Many participants adopted interventions to mitigate potential toxic trace metal exposure in their domestic spaces after receiving their results. The VegeSafe and DustSafe programs provide valuable examples of how to establish programs to meet community needs effectively, educate the community and bring about positive change to ultimately improve community health.