Citizen science and tree health: Towards a strategic plan for policy, operations and research

Tender description

Defra and its partners are committed to a collaborative approach to safeguarding the health of the nation's trees, woods and forests. Citizen science represents a key dimension of this collaborative approach, and a number of tree health citizen science projects have been developed, many of which have been supported by the Department in its response to the Chalara outbreak in 2011. However, there is now a need to take stock of this portfolio of projects and the data they are producing. In particular, there is a need to understand the relevant data and evidence requirements of contemporary tree health policy, operations and science, to assess to what extent these requirements are being met by citizen science, and to develop a coordinated plan for tree health citizen science. As such, the proposed fellowship has clear links to evidence-based policy and practice and will shape the future delivery of tree health citizen science projects and the use of the data they produce in support of tree health policy, operations and science.