OUR EXPERIENCE – REFLECTION ON PROJECT DEVELOPMENT AND
IMPLEMENTATION
The engagement between QUT ARG and CSHS was initiated prior to COVID-19,
and the intention to plan this citizen science project had already been
considered. Subject to receipt of external funding, the project was to
take a year to execute, with time devoted to plan and implement the
project. Due to current social factors; the COVID-19 situation and
isolation policies, there was a desire for practical science activities
for students to undertake while learning from home. This prompted rapid
adaptation of the initial project concept to suit the needs of the
school and accelerate the trial of proposed QUT ARG citizen science
research tools.
Throughout project development and implementation, several challenges
were encountered, some of which were solely due to the COVID-19
situation (Table. 1). However, by engaging in this new collaborative
project, the organizations gained both expected and unexpected benefits
(Fig. 3). These challenges and benefits will be discussed in the
following sections.