POSTER Session 3

OUR EYES, OUR FIRST SENSORS: FROM CITIZEN SCIENCE TO ANCESTRAL KNOWLEDGE

With the modern advances in technology, we have been increasingly relying on state-of-the-art tools to understand our surrounding environments. These tools often require specialist knowledge and are only available to some laboratories around the world. We aim to open the discussion on the fact that our original sensors to study the environment are our eyes. Since the dawn of time, humans observe their natural environment, record their observations, and transfer knowledge to future generations. The recent revival of citizen science, not only for collecting observations but also to invite observational knowledge to the table, is proof that with free sensors (our eyes), wide ranging programs in observational marine optics can be developed with cheap applications and large societal benefits. Provided proper training is given for recording observations, the use of our eyes only or with simple tools, and partnerships with scientists, can allow for a wide range of applications. In turn, a repository of ancestral knowledge can be developed, based on wide ranging observational data collected across generations and recorded through different media (from storytelling to written records). The cases of first nations coastal communities in Australia, North Africa, South-East Asia, and Northern Europe are examined. Such work is particularly valuable in communities with no or limited access to scientific equipment, but where long-held traditions of observation of their natural environment are upheld to ensure their livelihoods. In turn, local communities can take a leading role in the sustainable management of coastal and marine resources while preserving their cultural values.

Kadija Oubelkheir, ERG (Education, Research, Growth) Center, [email protected], https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6515-3791

Gary P. McGuffie, ERG (Education, Research, Growth) Center, [email protected]

Yochi Okta Andrawina, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, [email protected]

Josephine Ras, Institut de la Mer de Villefranche (IMEV), France, [email protected]

Phillip W. Ford, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia, [email protected]

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