The first of six issues of People and Nature to be published this year is online now!

Citizen Science

This issue features a cross-journal Special Feature with the other British Ecological Society Journals — Citizen Science. The Special Feature showcases the contribution of citizen science to the advancement of ecological and people and nature-based knowledge. The opening Editorial Towards ecological science for all by all introduces the Special Feature and some of the People and Nature authors have written blog posts about their work in citizen science.

To find out more about Citizen Science and how you can get involved with the work published in this Special Feature check out the British Ecological Society Citizen Science Hub. You can also find our current list of calls for contributions to Special Features across the British Ecological Society Journals here.

What’s on the cover?

Participants from the US‐based Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team (COASST) citizen science programme work to identify a bird carcass found on a local beach – sites which often elicit attachment due to natural, social, and personal dimensions of the place. Photo Credit: Clark Fair.

The cover image is taken from the Research Article by Benjamin Haywood and colleagues Shapeshifting attachment: Exploring multi‐dimensional people–place bonds in place‐based citizen science

You can read more about this research in the authors’ plain language summary Do bonds between people and the places they study matter in citizen science? and in a blog post from Benjamin Haywood The power of connected learning through citizen science.

Other highlights

This issue features the latest open access research exploring the relationships between people and nature, including research on enhancing ecosystem services through soundscape management, a Perspective on whether computer models help us to avoid environmental crises, a Review reconsidering the role of the built environment in human–wildlife interactions plus so much more!

The University of Queensland organised a press release about demystifying traditional Chinese medicine for conservationists being the key to better protecting endangered species like pangolins, tigers and rhino for Herbert Cheung and colleagues’ People and Nature Review & Synthesis article Understanding Traditional Chinese Medicine to strengthen conservation outcomes. You can also read more in the authors’ plain language summary TCM 101: A better understanding of Traditional Chinese Medicine can enable conservationists to improve wildlife outcomes.

And don’t forget — all articles published in People and Nature are Open Access and have a plain language summary written by the authors!

If you think your research could feature in a future issue of People and Nature or you are interested in contributing to a future Special Feature, get in touch or submit now!