Bridging Educational Institutions for a Citizen Science Project: A Case Study from Malappuram District, Kerala, India

Strategic bridging of various institutions into a functional network and enhancing communication between the nodes is a low-cost and effective approach for gathering grassroots level information and dissemination of scientific knowledge to various actors of a multi-stakeholder society. Such a cross-talking network of institutions, for example, schools, colleges, nongovernmental organisations, youth clubs and interested individuals, is the heart of participatory research programmes, such as citizen science projects. Although citizen science projects have gained popularity since mid-1990s, very few studies have critically analysed the dynamics and efficacy of interinstitutional networks in India. Here we share our experiences of connecting two major compartments of the educational system, school and college, in the Valanchery region of Malappuram District, Kerala, India, via a ‘student network’ for a citizen science programme to monitor the local mammalian diversity.