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Can we investigate microplastic pollution with school students? Experiences from eight years of citizen science research
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Researchers reported on eight years of citizen science microplastic research conducted with school students through the Plastic Pirates program, sharing methodological experiences and lessons learned from involving more than 24,000 participants across Germany and other European countries in rigorous environmental monitoring.
Microplastic research is challenging, especially so in a citizen science context, where contamination prevention measures, the small size of particles and tedious microplastic separation and sorting processes complicate the involvement of participants. On this poster we share how we involved school students and their teachers in microplastic research within the citizen science program Plastic Pirates. The Plastic Pirates were inaugurated in 2016 and since then have involved more than 24.000 participants and the program has been extended to other European countries besides Germany. The school students were mainly involved in data and sample collection and preliminary analysis. On this poster, we will give an overview over the Plastic Pirates data quality and management mechanisms used over the last eight years of this program. Based on our experience we recommend for example to focus investigation on the larger fraction of microplastics, to develop data quality mechanisms that do not obstruct the work of the school students in the field and describe how we developed transparent criteria to communicate shortcomings to be able to publish results in peer-reviewed literature. Also see: https://micro2024.sciencesconf.org/563511/document
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Can we investigate microplastic pollution with school students? Experiences from eight years of citizen science research
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Researchers shared eight years of experience from the Plastic Pirates citizen science program involving over 24,000 school students and teachers in microplastic research across Germany, addressing challenges of contamination prevention, particle size, and sample processing in non-laboratory settings. The study evaluated the feasibility and scientific validity of engaging young citizen scientists in standardized riverine microplastic monitoring.
Sharing communication insights of the citizen science program Plastic Pirates—best practices from 7 years of engaging schoolchildren and teachers in plastic pollution research
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The Plastic Pirates citizen science program in Germany engaged schoolchildren and teachers in monitoring plastic pollution in rivers over seven years, and this paper shares the communication strategies that made the program work at scale. Effective participant recruitment, guidance, and feedback loops enabled the program to generate peer-reviewed scientific data while building environmental literacy. The lessons offer a replicable model for using citizen science to expand microplastic monitoring coverage beyond what professional researchers can achieve alone.
Students’ attitudes towards the environment and marine litter in the context of a coastal water quality educational citizen science project
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Middle school students who participated in a citizen science project monitoring coastal water quality and microplastic pollution showed significantly more positive environmental attitudes afterward compared to a control group. The study suggests that hands-on engagement with real microplastic research can be an effective way to build environmental awareness in young people.
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A large-scale citizen science project involving schoolchildren detected microplastic hotspots in rivers across multiple European countries, demonstrating that collaborative monitoring can generate spatially extensive data on riverine plastic pollution.
Monitoring litter and microplastics in a highly polluted protected site of southern Spain: A research-based citizen science initiative
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Researchers combined citizen science monitoring with academic research to track plastic litter and microplastics at a protected but highly polluted site in southern Spain, generating both scientific data and community engagement outcomes. The project demonstrated how structured citizen science can produce research-quality data on plastic pollution while building public awareness.
Research digests by email
When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.