Enticing casual nature preserve visitors into citizen science via photos

While scientists need the contributions of members of the public if they are to document biological diversity across large spaces and over long periods of time, it is challenging to recruit enough volunteers. Since many people use their smartphones to take pictures when they are in nature, it may be beneficial to understand what they gravitate toward as a first step in understanding how they might be engaged in citizen science. We examined photographs taken by casual visitors to a Colorado nature preserve to look for clues about what attracts them. A thematic analysis revealed that the majority of their pictures were of plants, birds, and landscapes, and three-quarters chose to annotate some photos with comments or questions. Based on these findings, we propose ways to entice such visitors toward participating in biodiversity-oriented citizen science projects.