Gendered citizen science infrastructures: participation, recognition, and ecological labour in UK biodiversity monitoring
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: As biodiversity loss accelerates and the need for environmental monitoring grows, citizen science is becoming increasingly important. This raises questions about who participates and whose contributions are recognised. The United Kingdom hosts one of the oldest and most institutionally embedded traditions of ecological citizen science and biological recording globally, yet limited research has examined how this landscape is organised or how participation is experienced across different contexts. Using a mixed-methods design, this study combines a systematic scoping of 165 active ecological citizen science projects across the United Kingdom with semi-structured interviews with 14 women citizen scientists to explore how ecological citizen science is structured, sustained, and socially reproduced in practice. The scoping identified a diverse project landscape primarily organised around biodiversity monitoring, species recording and conservation, characterised by concentration among established organisations, the dominance of contributory participation models, and disproportionate attention to visible taxa and terrestrial ecosystems. Interview findings demonstrate that women’s contributions frequently extend beyond ecological data collection to include mentoring, volunteer coordination, outreach, and other forms of relational and organisational labour essential to project continuity although these remain unevenly recognised within existing citizen science cultures. Participants also develop expertise across projects and ecological domains, but these pathways are often informal, while female participation appears to be shaped by organisational cultures, digital technologies, access to specialist roles and wider life circumstances. Building on these findings, we propose a conceptual framework of gendered citizen science infrastructures that connects the institutional organisation of citizen science with women’s pathways of participation and contribution, showing how processes of recognition shape their experiences, opportunities and longer-term engagement. The findings further inform recommendations for strengthening recognition, progression, inclusion and sustained participation within ecological citizen science.
Institution: University College London
Language: English
Subfield: Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,801
OpenAlex ID: W7204523577