OLC Innovate 2017 - Keynote Speaker

Citizen Science is reshaping the relationship between science and the public. Millions of volunteers, many of whom do not hold formal science degrees, are joining forces with professional scientists to contribute data or analyze data to advance scientific research in fields as diverse as astronomy, ecology, medicine, and archaeology. DIYers, Makers and manufacturers of low-cost tools combined with a proliferation of open data, make access to instruments and data accessible to more people than ever before. This perfect storm positions citizen science as one of the most important and promising trends in science and education. Cavalier will share details of citizen science projects and provide an overview of the movement’s history and future.

Darlene Cavalier is a Professor of Practice at Arizona State University’s Center for Engagement and Training, part of the School for the Future of Innovation in Society. Cavalier is the founder of SciStarter, where more than 50,000 people engage in crowdsourcing scientific research. She is the founder of Science Cheerleader, an organization of more than 300 current and former professional cheerleaders pursuing STEM careers, and she is a cofounder of ECAST: Expert and Citizen Assessment of Science and Technology, a network of universities, science centers, and think tanks that produces public deliberations to enhance science policymaking. She is a founding Board Member of the Citizen Science Association, a senior advisor at Discover Magazine, and a member of the EPA’s National Advisory Council for Environmental Policy and Technology. She is the author of The Science of Cheerleading and co-editor of The Rightful Place of Science: Citizen Science, published by Arizona State University. She graduated from Temple University and the University of Pennsylvania and lives in Philadelphia with her husband and four children.