Surf 'n' Turf: Archaeological Discoveries by Citizen Scientists Strolling along the Beach

Surf 'n' Turf: Archaeological Discoveries by Citizen Scientists Strolling along the Beach

Dr. James Bonsall & Sam Moore

The MASC Project – Monitoring the Archaeology of Sligo’s Coastline @MASC_CoastArch facebook.com/TheMascProject themascproject.wordpress.com

Weather Beaten Archaeology Conference

Monitoring the Archaeology of Sligo’s Coastline

A new Citizen Science scheme for Co. Sligo Strong storm tides affect archaeological site at vulnerable

coastal locations: •Revealing sands are stripped away, revealing archaeology below •Concealing sands are deposited on top of archaeology •Erasing tidal surge erodes archaeology and washes it out to sea

Revealing

January 2015

January 2015

August 2015

Concealing

Revealing

Citizen Science – Anyone Can Do It!

1) Awareness Public Outreach

Website Blog Social Media Clean Coasts Roadshow Newspaper Radio TV

Archaeological Conferences

2) Recording Smart Phone (or)

Camera GPS Internet Access

3) Monitoring Regular Return Visits

Note change / deterioration

4) Training Training in Basic Recording / Archaeological Methods

Clean Coasts Roadshow

Locals

(Rosses Point)

M Breen

Enniscrone Tidy Towns

Enniscrone Coast Care

Enniscrone Walking Club

T McHugh

Fado Archaeology

1 Discovery!

Clean Coasts Lissadell

S McGoldrick

Clean Coasts Strandhill

iSurfIreland School of Surfing

M Butler North West

Sea Kayaking Association

NWSKA Clean Coasts

+2 Volunteers 1 Discovery!

Irish Sea Kayaking

Association

IT Sligo

2 Staff 1 Discovery!

3 Students

3 Discoveries!

The MASC Project

Website

RTE Creedon’s Wild Atlantic

Way

GADA +2 Volunteers

Irish Times + 1 Volunteer

Clean Coasts Roadshow, Rosses Point

MASC Project: Our Citizen

Science Network

Weather Beaten Archaeology Conference

Submit Your Data Online



Martina emailed the MASC Project

A Basic Description 7 x Photographs Question: Is it Archaeology?

Hi James, This is possibly not a new find to you but sending it on just in case! A small number of our members were doing our An Taisce, Clean Coast clean up yesterday evening at Rosses Point and came across a thininsh layer of oyster shell deposits to the northern end of the "First Beach" at the start of the rocky outcrop in the small cove that has developed where the old concrete changing huts used to be. Please see the folder of our photos attached.



Martina emailed the MASC Project


Hi James, This is possibly not a new find to you but sending it on just in case! A small number of our members were doing our An Taisce, Clean Coast clean up yesterday evening at Rosses Point and came across a thininsh layer of oyster shell deposits to the northern end of the "First Beach" at the start of the rocky outcrop in the small cove that has developed where the old concrete changing huts used to be. Please see the folder of our photos attached.



2) Recording Martina emailed the MASC Project


3) Monitoring MASC Project Archaeologist visits

Confirmation: A new Archaeological site

New monument added www.archaeology.ie

3) Feedback Loop Give Back info to your Citizen Scientist - promote their ‘ownership’ of the data

Day 1 1) Thank you for telling us about your

discovery! 2) It does look like archaeology – we’ll check 3) There are no known sites there 4) Our local ‘Responder’ has visited the site –

he confirms it is archaeology Day 2 5) We’ve reported it to the National

Monuments Service (NMS) Day 6 6) The NMS have visited the site Day 11 7) The NMS have uploaded it to their website

as a new Monument!

Martina Butler – 1st Citizen Scientist of MASC

RTÉ Creedon’s Wild Atlantic Way

Beta Testing the Google Form

3) Feedback Loop Martina helped develop the Online Google Form Ease of use Non-specialist No technical language How do I find a GPS location?

I just completed the form - it was ok to use but… • Would it be possible to build in a map? • Grid reference converter ? • I made a mistake – add an ‘undo’ button? • Useful to inform the user that they have an

edit option before they start to complete the questionnaire

• Tell users how many pages of Questions there are in advance

• Could list the info that they should gather before the user starts the survey (e.g. a list of material seen, site dimensions)

Our Citizen Scientists

Post-Data Collection

Networking: Reach out to local & national networks It’s easy to get lost in the data – make it Personal

Give Feedback to your Citizen Scientists! Create a ‘buy-in’ for your Citizen Scientist Generates ownership, excitement get shared Genuine feeling of contributing to Science

Give something back to the data gatherers

Feedback (again) Publicity / Media / Local Talks Blog Coverage – show that you value Citizen Scientists

Get YOUR perspective and THEIR perspective – will encourage others to join in

Other Models

Entirely volunteer based: from Data Collection, Analysis, Confirmation, Reporting

No Funding for the MASC Project as yet Develop our website for forms / recording Integrate:

Website: TheMASCProject.wordpress.com Google Form: http://goo.gl/forms/cXPaX9qH3G

We’re lacking knowledge / funding for

Integrating GIS and App–acquired data App generation & development

Seek funding for

App-development (as above) Staff? 1 person (part-time), increasingly needed Training Sessions for regular monitoring of sites

Annual Report Publication (low cost / free distribution on website)

Future Directions for MASC

More Collaborators Needed: We would like to hear from interested potential stakeholders that already have a strong coastal presence. We intend to meet our collaborators regularly and to offer them training in archaeological recording techniques. We’re looking for collaborators such as: • Beach Care and Anti-Litter Groups • Archaeological Societies • Youth Groups • Bird Watching Groups • Angling Groups • Surfers / Kayakers

@MASC_CoastArch facebook.com/TheMascProject themascproject.wordpress.com

Surf 'n' Turf: Archaeological Discoveries by Citizen Scientists Strolling along the Beach

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