The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is charting a new pathway for the use of citizen science. In recent years, the EPA has played an active role in sharing knowledge of and promoting the use of citizen science at state, tribal, and local environmental agencies. A new agency-wide strategy for citizen science is presently under development. To help inform this strategy, the EPA recognized the need to learn about the uptake of citizen science at state, tribal and local environmental agencies and to determine current best practices. This document outlines 8 best practices for environmental agencies that are interested in or actively pursuing citizen science as a tool in environmental protection programs. The best practices are gleaned from the evaluation of 15 case studies.
It is therefore recommended that this best practice document be read in conjunction with the report titled: Citizen Science Programs at Environmental Agencies: Case Studies (October 2020).