ABSTRACT
The quality of communication between marine scientists and those whose lives and livelihoods are entwined with our seas and oceans can be the making or breaking of a marine research or conservation initiative. eOceans aims to include the observations of all ocean-going explorers with a range of experiences, encounters, perspectives and skills. There are four main contributors to eOceans: science, outreach, field, and advisory teams. This chapter shows that face-to-face and email contact with career scientists that grab citizen scientists' attention. Like much successful coastal and marine research, coastal and marine citizen science needs to be consistently constructed on the sturdy foundations of high quality scientist-citizen communication. In fact, the need for effective communication is likely higher in the case of citizen science. The chapter documents two case studies, and describes steps taken in regard to trust-building and communication, as well as for data collection.
