“[N]ature-loving volunteers in the U.S. contribute a great deal to on-the-ground research, from tracking sea turtles to monitoring the luminance of the night sky. ... The contributions of volunteers are especially important in 2020, as COVID-19 has forced many scientists around the country to postpone or cancel their fieldwork.” (C. Peterson, National Geographic, Sept. 2020)
As Allison Cusick, Ph.D candidate at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, notes:
“When you collaborate with people who aren’t scientists, you gain a whole community of people who are invested in the project.” (Quoted in T.W. Goodman, Washington Post, Dec. 2020)