By involving the public, citizen science runs against the grain of an idealized science that leaves out the human element, and thus provides new opportunities for ecological research and society. We classify the goals of citizen science in ecology and environment into four broad categories: (1) scientific, (2) participant benefits, (3) community, and (4) policy. Although none of these goals have been well studied, we review the literature showing that these projects are most effective in tracking ecological trends over large swaths of space and time, and discuss the challenges of recruiting, training, retaining, and educating participants, maintaining and disseminating high‐quality data, and connecting with the larger community and policy. Biomedical studies, where patients participate in their own treatment in randomized trials, provide an interesting comparison with citizen science in ecology, sharing challenges in recruitment and involvement of nonscientists and ethical conduct of research. Future study will help address the ethical difficulties and enhance ways for citizen science in ecology and the environment to complement scientific discovery, involve and educate the public, and guide policy founded in science and the local community.

中文翻译：

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生态中的公民科学：人类在大自然中的地方

通过让公众参与进来，公民科学与排除人为因素的理想化科学背道而驰，从而为生态研究和社会提供了新的机会。我们将公民科学在生态和环境方面的目标分为四大类：（1）科学，（2）参与者利益，（3）社区，以及（4）政策。尽管这些目标都没有得到很好的研究，但我们回顾了表明这些项目在跟踪大范围空间和时间的生态趋势方面最有效的文献，并讨论了招募、培训、留住和教育参与者、维护和传播高质量数据，并与更大的社区和政策联系。生物医学研究，患者在随机试验中参与自己的治疗，在生态学中与公民科学进行有趣的比较，分享非科学家的招募和参与以及研究的道德行为方面的挑战。未来的研究将有助于解决伦理难题，并加强生态和环境领域的公民科学方法，以补充科学发现，让公众参与和教育，并指导以科学和当地社区为基础的政策。