Changes in participant behaviour and attitudes are associated with knowledge and skills gained by using a turtle conservation citizen science app

Citizen science has become a popular way to collect biodiversity data and engage the wider public in scientific research. It has the potential to improve the knowledge and skills of participants, and positively change their behaviour and attitude towards the environment. Citizen science outcomes are particularly valuable for wildlife conservation, as they could help alleviate human impacts on the environment. We used an online questionnaire to investigate the consequences of participating in an Australian turtle mapping app, TurtleSAT, on skills and knowledge gain, and test for any association between these gains with behavioural or attitudinal changes reported by the participants. 148 citizen scientists completed our questionnaire, mostly from the states of New South Wales and Victoria. Participants listed TurtleSAT as the third most common source of knowledge about turtle ecology and conservation, after a talk about turtles and personal observations/research. Citizen scientists who pa...