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.