Presentation from Barnaby Smith, Centre for Ecology & Hydrology Media Relations Manager given at the British Ecological Society Citizen Science Special Interest Group meeting, July 2014

1. Action through media
engagement
Barnaby Smith
Media Relations Manager
Centre for Ecology & Hydrology

2. A brief history:
The Centre for Ecology &
Hydrology, the media and “citizen
science”
With lessons learnt on the way…

3. Springwatch 2005
People across the UK were
asked to record the arrival of
spring in their neighbourhood,
by noting arrival dates,
Bumblebees, Peacock
butterflies, the 7-spot ladybird
and the Swift.
The largest such one-off survey
in the world (at that time).

4. 2005 - The early years

5. 2009 - Becoming famous (for 15 mins)
'Ladybird, ladybird:
Unravelling the story of
an alien invader'
Royal Society Summer
Science Exhibition 2009
Lots of Press coverage:
On the day most of the
press coverage occurred,
30 June, www.harlequin-
survey.org received over
5000 visitors, a 20-fold
increase from normal
visitor numbers.

6. Lessons learnt (1) – media engagement
• Take advantage of every opportunity (and
follow up)
• Reply immediately to journalists
• Don’t be scared of live TV and radio (although
being a little nervous helps!)
• Don’t take things personally (e.g. when
dropped/misquoted)
• Have a plan (even if you have to change it!)

7. 2010 - BBC Breathing places

8. 2011 – “citizen science arrives at CEH”
First mention of “citizen science” on our website
18 May 2011

9. 2012 – On the farm

10. 2014 – Springwatch (again!)

11. Lessons learnt (2)
• Work out what success is (and stick to the
definition)
• Be proactive (but not pushy)
• Be flexible (but use your resources and time
wisely)
• Be creative (but recognise some things works
and some things don’t)

12. #brc50

13. #brc50 - BBC online

14. #brc50 –BBC Online – the headline

15. 2014 - Big Bumblebee Discovery

16. What has changed?

17. Lessons learnt (3)
• Think about your audience(s) - what do you
want to achieve
• Take care of your ‘citizens’ (it’s their time and
you should act responsibly)
• Remember the ‘human’ element (to engage
media and wider public)
• (most of…) the media will believe what you tell
them – so be careful how you use this power!

18. WHY BOTHER TO ENGAGE
WITH THE MEDIA?
BECAUSE IT’S A GREAT
WAY TO REACH OUT TO
CITIZEN SCIENTISTS

19. and it’s fun!

20. Questions?
With thanks to Helen Roy, Michael Pocock, many
CEH scientists past and present, all our partners, the
funding agencies and of course…the tens of
thousands of citizens who have participated in the
projects over the years