WatchSpotter LLC announces the launch of their Citizen Science Software Platform.
WatchSpotter is a woman-owned software company headquartered in Florida. Their innovative citizen science software platform was created and developed based on years of research and experience in scientific research and database software development. The primer product suite offers a feature-rich application loaded with all the necessary elements to manage a successful citizen science project.
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Anne Sleeman, Founder, and CEO of WatchSpotter LLC said, “In the past, citizen science projects had observers gather data in one of two ways. Primarily, projects relied on paper or web-based forms in which citizen scientists entered data into the form. These methods are unreliable, time-consuming, and often cumbersome from the project lead’s perspective. Data QA/QC is near impossible, with human error and lost data points playing a significant role. The second option was to invest in expensive custom software, which often took months or even years to develop. At WatchSpotter, we took a different approach, developing the first application of its kind. Our app is customizable and can be deployed in a matter of minutes. Scientists, therefore, get all the benefits of a custom solution without the cost or time constraints of previous solutions.”
The WatchSpotter administrator console is the hub where researchers manage all aspects of their project: Volunteers, citizen scientists, training, field guides, approved spotters, and spots, near real-time data analytics and messaging. They create project-specific questions and answers. The citizen scientists (Spotters) answer those questions and upload photos, audio files, and GPS coordinates via the free mobile app or the online spotter portal. Data is viewable, real-time for the project lead to then approve/disapprove as well as analyze via the analytics dashboard or to export.
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One of the significant limitations of citizen science programs has always been participant engagement. People/Citizen Scientists want to feel like they are an integral part of the project. The Science lead must provide feedback so citizen scientists know that what they are participating in is important and meaningful.
If you successfully engage citizens, your project can scale exponentially and effortlessly. With the integrated communications component “SpotterChat,” citizens stay engaged with the project, the scientists, and other like-minded people. With the ability to send out real-time alerts and “be on the lookout for (BOLO)” notifications, Spotters have an active role in the project’s science, leading to increased enthusiasm, communal stewardship, and seamless collaboration with science leads.
WatchSpotter uses a mobile-first approach for software development. According to Joe Sleeman, Chief Technology Officer at WatchSpotter, “We re-engineered the entire data collection process, which resulted in a product that would keep Spotters engaged, more active and thus gathering more data for a project. We deployed a mapping solution that provides an incredible level of map detail not found in most other map providers resulting in an easy-to-use, reliable application that scientists can administer anywhere, globally, for any project.”
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