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WHY COLLABORATE IN SCIENCE? A Social Survey of Participatory Scientists in the Ocean Travelers II
Location: 6
Mentor: Dr. Karlisa Callwood
Marine litter floating in the world’s oceans has increased drastically, so more rafts are available for marine organisms to colonize and disperse. Ocean Travelers II (OT II) investigates the impact of anthropogenic marine litter on the dispersal of epibionts across 121 beaches in 20 countries. This sampling effort is replicated 4 times, once per beach per season. High levels of commitment from the participants are critical. An online anonymous survey was created to quantify motivation, satisfaction, and performance quality. It was designed in English and Spanish and sent to the 91 people who participated in the first sampling of OT II. Survey questions were about the individual, their motivations, and their satisfaction with the project. 45 individuals responded, and 39 data entries were accepted. 67% of accepted volunteer responses were Coordinators. A Coordinator was an individual who signed a collaboration letter stating they would ensure completion of data collection and validation tasks assigned, and receive co-authorship on future papers in return. The Motivation questions are separated into Extrinsic, Intrinsic, and Blended categories. Results have shown that Extrinsic motivations such as co-authorship are important, but they are not the main driver of participation in this project. In contrast, Intrinsic motivation like aiming to protect marine life from litter is the most important. Through chi-squared statistical analysis, it was found that role type (coordinator vs coordinator's assistants) did not affect satisfaction outcome. This shows responsibility as well as rewards of co-authorship did not influence commitment and engagement in this participatory science project.
