  Citizen science often requires volunteers to perform low-skill tasks such as
counting and documenting en- vironmental features. In this work, we contend
that these tasks do not adequately meet the needs of citizen scientists
motivated by scientific learning. We propose to provide intrinsic motivation by
asking them to no- tice, compare, and synthesize qualitative observations. We
describe the process of learning and performing qualitative assessments in the
domain of water quality monitoring, which appraises the impact of land use on
habitat quality and biological diversity. We use the example of water
monitoring because qualitative wa- tershed assessments are exclusively
performed by professionals, yet do not require specialized tools, making it an
excellent fit for volunteers. Within this domain, we observe and report on
differences in background and training between professional and volunteer
monitors, using these experiences to synthesize findings about volunteer
training needs. Our findings reveal that to successfully make qualitative
stream assessments, vol- unteers need to: (1) experience a diverse range of
streams, (2) discuss judgments with other monitors, and (3) construct internal
narratives about water quality. We use our findings to describe how different
technologies may support these needs and generalize our findings to the larger
citizen science community.
