On Saturday afternoon, the 15th October 2022, a very special award ceremony took place at the 'Vrije Universiteit' of Brussels (VUB). For the second time, an award was presented to a person who has dedicated himself to scientific research within paleontology. Through this initiative, Palaeontologica Belgica hopes to promote science in all its aspects to the general public, and advocate the valorization of research done by citizen scientists within other scientific domains.
Citizen Science
The term citizen science, has become a part of our vocabulary in recent years. Content-wise, it encompasses an old concept that has been part of scientific research for many decades. It is in fact a concept that's already been practiced for hundreds of years, but for a very long time there was no appropriate and/or comprehensive definition for it. We can conveniently say that 'citizen science' encompasses a broad spectrum of participation in scientific research conducted, supported, or utilized by citizens with no academic background or recognized training within the relevant research domain.
The definition may seem a bit vague, but many people have been introduced to its workings either consciously or unconsciously in recent years. Just think of the backyard bird spotting or shell collecting days, or the project to measure air quality in Flanders. All these initiatives make use of citizens with an interest in science to advance fundamental scientific research. But these awards take it one step further, as there are a lot of individuals in our country who, without any academic background in a specific branch of science, carry out their own research that is published internationally in scientific journals. They often do so without the financial support from the government purely for their own pleasure. To thank these unique citizens for their research, the Louis De Pauw award, was created.
