Introduction to Citizen Conservation

This blog (Electric Jones) is divided into three major categories: Game Studies, Etcetera, and Citizen Conservation. Game Studies may be self explanatory (if not take a look at its intro post), and etcetera is just a grab bag of things I’m interested in. But what is Citizen Conservation? Here, I take a quick look at what I mean by Citizen Conservation and explore a few topics I’m interested in.

First, a little bit about my background. For the full story, take a look at the rest of this blog. In short, I have spent the last 30+years at the intersection of computer science, community service, and animal care. In that time, I have volunteered at dozens of site cleanups, restoration projects, conservation initiatives, and rescues. I currently spend a lot of my “free” time at the Humane Rescue Alliance in Washington, D.C. as a behavior assistant, adoptions counselor, and volunteer trainer.

I am a computer scientist for sure, but really recharge by being outside and especially in the company of non-human animals.

When first laying this research blog out, I considered a lot of titles for this category: Conservation, Ecology, Nature, etc. But none of them felt entirely right. What I really wanted to focus on is the democratization of research. Empowering everyone to engage meaningfully in conservation, both in research and in action. So, I went with “Citizen Conservation” and divide my work into some broad topics.

Ecology

I am certainly interested in, and do amature research concerning, the relationships between organisms and other organisms and their environment. I like to investigate agent-cause relationships where an intelligent agent (human or non-human) alters an environment and causes systemic changes in that environment. Everything from ant colonies to beaver dams to human construction projects. I am not a biologist and not as interested as the individual as I am the system. That probably comes from my decades in software design.

Intelligence and Play

I am fascinated by intelligence (broadly defined), especially where it leads to communication and play. Both are essential to learning, and I have an M.Ed in Educational Psychology. I’m interested in the various ways non-human animals learn through play, experimentation, and communication, both as individuals and as groups.

Conservation

Less research and more practical, my interest in conservation is mostly in efficiency of the work. How can we take the limited resources we put towards conservation (as a society) and make better use of them? How can we make a bigger impact with what we have? I am not as directly interested in “getting out the word” and “raising support” for conservation efforts (in this context). That is a part of my game studies work, and you can read about that there or in the “Intersections” section. But for my conservation work, I look at how we can enhance training of conservation volunteers, give better tools to our conservationists, and improve data to drive better outcomes.

Technology

I cannot leave technology out of this – it is too much a part of who I am. In this case, I am interested primarily in using technology as tools for conservationist and researchers. I am not as interested in the important work of making technology more sustainable in itself.

Citizen Science

The democratization of this work is important to me, but not in a “if we all just pitch in, it’ll be fine” way. Yes, we each have a personal responsability for our interactions (both direct and indirect) with the environment, but we cannot simply “recycle” our way out of the unstastainable mess we’ve gotten ourselves into. My interest in Citizen Science is more about the democratization of research than action. It allows individuals w/o full-time professions or advanced degrees to participate meaningfully in the research process. When we all take ownership of bettering our understanding of these systems, we all benefit from that knowledge and have better tools to enhance our conservation efforts.

Intersections

Life is messy and my interests don’t have clearly defined lines. My other main interest is in Game Science, and can’t help but intersect here. I am especially interested in the History and Design of Environmental Gaming (and I plan to do an entire series on the topic soon). Environmental Gaming is a proposed sister to Environmental Film Making which encompasses everything from sustainable game production to games with environmental themes and games with mechanics specifically designed to teach environmental practices.

Rescues and Shelters

I spend a lot of my time working in municipal animal shelters and rescues. This work is primarily working with adoptable animals like cats, dogs, rabbits, etc. I am very interested in how we can enhance that work: more adoptions, better community support, stronger behavior protocols, and enhanced technology for the shelters. You will hear a lot more about this as time goes on.

A Personal Note

On a personal note, this work is very important to me. I enjoy my work in game studies and computer science because it is intellectually interesting. I enjoy my citizen conservation work because it is emotionally powerful. It is the reason I wake up most mornings, it is how I develop most of my friendships, and it is the legacy I most want to leave.

On an even more personal (and fun) note, my favorite past times involve Back Country Camping and Scuba Diving.

Last Updated: March 5, 2024 – See Changes