Radio Galaxy Zoo Talk

Exclusive interview with our recent Citizen Science co-authors

  • Tim_F by Tim_F scientist

    As part of my Science Communication student project, I had the privilege to interview two of our brilliant Zooniverse members who have been recognised as co-authors in a recently submitted RGZ paper.

    Excerpt:

    In March 2016, the Radio Galaxy Zoo (RGZ) team submitted a paper which is co-authored by two of our SuperRGZooites. Thanks to the help of citizens around the world, over 1.6 million classifications have been made. However, a very special thanks must go to two citizens who have been greatly involved in our most recent submitted paper.

    Meet Ivan Terentev and Tim Matorny, our Citizen Science co-authors.

    I'd love to find out about your own experiences so please feel free to have a discussion here, or within the blog comments, about how you became involved in RGZ and what you love about being a part of our project!

    Posted

  • JeanTate by JeanTate in response to Tim_F's comment.

    Thanks Tim_F, and welcome to RGZ! 😃

    I'd be more than happy to share some of my experiences, and would prefer to do so here than as blog comments (I'll add a comment there to this effect).

    In the meantime, may I ask about yourself? How long have you been classifying here, or in other Zooniverse projects? And how did you get the title "SCIENTIST"?

    Posted

  • Tim_F by Tim_F scientist

    Thanks for the warm welcome JeanTate.

    Fantastic, I'm glad to hear that you'd be willing to share your experiences in this thread 😃

    To give some background on myself, I am completing a Bachelor of Science, majoring in Theoretical Physics, at The Australian National University. I'm quite new to the Zooniverse, only becoming involved this year, but loving every moment of it.

    I am currently conducting research into citizen science projects and their social media communication strategies, and am utilising the fantastic Radio Galaxy Zoo project to do so. I'm really enjoying my interactions with all our citizen scientists so far, and can't wait to continue our conversations 😃

    Posted

  • JeanTate by JeanTate in response to Tim_F's comment.

    Thanks Tim_F.

    I'm even more curious now, about your role ... you have the title "SCIENTIST", here in RGZ Talk, yet you are not listed as one of the RGZ team (link to the official RGZ team page), so may I ask again, how did you get that title?

    Also, how do you work with Brooke Simmons (Project Engagement Officer), and the RGZ Education Team (Robert Hollow, CSIRO; Laura Whyte, Adler Planetarium; Kelly Borden, ditto)?

    As for myself, I'm like Dolorous_Edd and antikodon in that I've been here since RGZ began. And as you can see from the number of recent posts (and Comments) by me, am fairly active. In case you haven't already seen them, you might be interested to read the Have you ever been inspired to learn science content, by participation in RGZ? thread and the I'm thinking of making the 'FIRST contour overlay' Python code I wrote available to any zooite ... one.

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  • 42jkb by 42jkb scientist, admin in response to JeanTate's comment.

    Hi JeanTate - the labeling of "scientist" was my doing. I put the label on him to separate him as part of the RGZ team. Not sure what other label to use here. Thoughts? Sorry for the confusion.

    Tim is working on a research project with me at ANU. He is interested in science communication and social media and is looking to pursue a masters or PhD in science communication next year.

    Your comments in regards to the official RGZ team made me realise that the list is no where near up to date. HA! Another for my to do list 😄

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  • Tim_F by Tim_F scientist

    I think you have a never-ending to do list 42jkb. Although, what I've found so far is the items on my RGZ to do list are all enjoyable because they involve interacting with fantastic citizen scientists like JeanTate, Dolorous_Edd and antikodon. (And I can't wait to chat to more of you so don't be afraid to say hi!)

    JeanTate, I love your commitment to RGZ and how long you have stayed involved. May I ask, is there one particular reason you continue to participate in the Zooniverse? And whether you feel there is something that the RGZ and Zooniverse could do to keep participants engaged throughout an entire project? I'd love to hear your thoughts as you are an active user 😃

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  • JeanTate by JeanTate in response to Tim_F's comment.

    Thanks 42jkb, Tim_F.

    Totally left-field thought: hierarchical structures cannot always handle multiple, competing-for-time tasks well, especially if some of the tasks are far greater in number than the structure was originally planned for.

    Translation (well, one translation): if RGZ, as a project, was not set up to 'handle' the volume and nature of zooites' activity, it will fall to the PIs (because no one else on the Team has such as their primary responsibility), and they'll either burn out or there'll be lots of disgruntled zooites and/or lots will leave. Possible example: many, potentially highly important, serendipitous discoveries made by zooites will be lost (this old GZ forum thread attempted to explore this topic).

    Crazy idea: many zooites are enthusiastic, know how RGZ works (at least the public parts), experienced (read up on the research results on the demographics, e.g. Raddick 2010), responsible, and knowledgeable (again, read the results on the demographics, esp the number with MScs or PhDs). And they're 'free'! Why not tap into this amazing, free resource?

    And whether you feel there is something that the RGZ and Zooniverse could do to keep participants engaged throughout an entire project?

    There are a couple of threads in Z Talk which go a long way to giving some valuable insight: Poppin' Galaxy, the new Asteroid Zoo? and Is Citizen Science Ethical? I'm more than happy to discuss these, and the general topic, at length.

    May I suggest that further discussion be moved to a different thread?

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  • JeanTate by JeanTate in response to JeanTate's comment.

    May I suggest that further discussion be moved to a different thread?

    My recommendation: Ordinary zooites' experiences, expectations, etc (an attempt to create a consolidated thread)

    Posted