YEREVAN, Armenia — On November 12, the American University of Armenia’s (AUA) Math and Writing Center held an engaging workshop, led by Assistant Professor Dr. Garabet Kazanjian, titled “Could You Be a Citizen Scientist? Or Are You Here Just To Make a Splash?” The event offered students, faculty, and staff a deep dive into Armenia’s pressing water issues and explained how citizen science can empower communities to address them.
Dr. Kazanjian opened with a compelling look at Armenia’s traditional reverence for water and contrasted it with current consumption habits. He highlighted the environmental challenges Armenia faces today, emphasizing the critical need for behavioral change and public involvement in conservation. The concept of citizen science, where non-professionals actively contribute to scientific research, was new to many attendees, sparking strong interest and curiosity.
To demonstrate the impact of citizen science, Dr. Kazanjian introduced OTTERS, a European Mission Ocean project coordinated by the AUA Acopian Center for the Environment. Aimed at expanding citizen science initiatives across Europe and neighboring countries, OTTERS includes a pilot project in the Lake Sevan Basin in Armenia, through which local teachers will integrate citizen science activities into their curricula, enabling students to monitor water quality in nearby rivers and engage at the community level in water stewardship efforts.
In a hands-on session, participants formed groups to co-design their own citizen science campaigns focused on promoting water conservation. Ideas included monitoring residential water use, organizing river clean-ups, and launching social media campaigns to raise public awareness, share information, and inspire sustainable behaviors.
The workshop attracted more than 20 students, with the overwhelming majority of respondents at the end of the event expressing interest in future citizen science projects and the belief that such projects can help address water-related challenges in Armenia.
The OTTERS project will support the coordination of European Union citizen science initiatives focused on water, aiming to accelerate the creation and adoption of standards for citizen science protocols and methods; examine the effectiveness of citizen science in societal transformation toward sustainable aquatic ecosystem stewardship; and pilot cross-community, watershed-based Spring-to-Sea Stewardship campaigns. To find out more about the project and its upcoming events, please refer to the project’s website.
For more information on upcoming events and workshops organized by the AUA Math and Writing Center, please follow the Events Calendar.
The AUA Acopian Center for the Environment, a research center of the American University of Armenia (AUA), promotes the protection and restoration of the natural environment through research, education, and community outreach. The AUA Acopian Center’s focus areas include sustainable natural resource management, biodiversity protection and conservation, greening the built environment, sustainable energy, as well as information technology and the environment. Visit http://ace.aua.am.
