Tribute to tinbergen: Public engagement in ethology

Abstract

Public engagement in research, called citizen science, has led to advances in a range of fields like astronomy, ornithology, and public health. While volunteers have been making and sharing observations according to protocols set by researchers in numerous disciplines, citizen science practices are less common in the field of animal behavior. We consider how citizen science might be used to address animal behavior questions at Tinbergen's four levels of analysis. We briefly review resources and methods for addressing technical issues surrounding volunteer participation-such as data quality-so that citizen science can make long-standing contributions to the field of animal behavior. © 2013 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.