To help scientists in their missions, several associations offer participatory scientific stays. Open to all, they allow you to take part in experiments and expeditions.
Going to discover volcanoes, in the footsteps of dinosaurs or in the forests of Madagascar while on vacation, this is the concept of participatory science. A formula which makes it possible to help scientists, and which attracts more and more people. In Paris, at the Cité des Sciences, is being held on March 25 and 26, the Terra Scientifica fair, dedicated to participatory science trips.
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“These are useful and enriching holidays”, approves Solène who works for the association Objectif Science international, and oversees trips combining science and the general public. “We can go and do biodiversity inventories, try to identify butterflies, monitor bird species with binoculars, lists Solene. It can also be protocols that we have in partnership with Inrae in Avignon, for monitoring so-called invasive species such as the box tree moth and the pine processionary caterpillar. It’s full of diverse and varied subjects. “
“These expeditions or vacation stays allow us to collect more data over the long term”
Laetitia, paleontology specialistat franceinfo
The associations present their projects at the Cité des Sciences during the Terra Scientifica exhibition. These trips, these expeditions are also of interest to scientists. According to Laetitia, specialist in paleontology: “Researchers are finding it increasingly difficult to have the time to go into the field, so often they are micro-expeditions so that they only collect a small element, whereas the goal of science, it’s that it’s meaningful and therefore quite broad and comprehensive.”
To participate in these projects, you don’t need to be knowledgeable about fauna, flora or archeology yourself. These stays are open to as many people as possible, recalls Sylvain, head of the biodiversity program at Objectif Science International: “Science is not something reserved only for scientists who work as researchers in an official body”.
And Sylvain adds: “Science is something that concerns us all.We have lots of 7-year-olds who have made scientific discoveries. It is not scientific discoveries, necessarily major, which will give them the Nobel Prize, but they are real scientific discoveries within the framework of the projects that we carry out”. Some of these apprentice researchers have even co-authored articles with professional scientists.