Patrick Ole Letura

I have participated in many citizen science programmes over the past 8 years; these have involved indigenous tree surveys in the Mau Forest; monitoring wildlife and livestock in the Maasai Mara conservancies; community-led prosperity metrics; development of carbon footprinting for projects in the savannah and forests of the Rift Valley; and most recently true value accounting of the Kenyan food system.
I have learnt much about the changes in the environment and the richness of knowledge that citizen science can bring to research going on around us in Kenya. I see that we can play an important role in Project AURORA by sharing our experiences on how to link the collection of citizen science data about personal carbon emissions, with behavioural change at community levels, and then how to provide opportunities for funds to go back transparently into the community to support education of the next generation.
I support the development of a global citizen science programme on climate change built on successful small-scale pilots and which can help deliver benefits for our communities in the global south.