David Slawson

850,000 members of the public have taken part in the Open Air Laboratories (OPAL), a UK-wide citizen science initiative encouraging anyone to get involved in science, regardless of age, background or level of ability. Through OPAL surveys, members of the public have assessed the quality of their air, soil, water, while investigating the impact of climate change on species movement and monitoring the arrival of invasive pests and diseases. OPAL is seeking to adapt its suite of citizen science surveys to provide assessments of natural capital and ecosystem services and would welcome engagement with researchers to this end. OPAL has a network of 12 organisations and over 2,000 schools and has public engagement officers in place to end 2016 with mature relationships with local communities (particularly in urban, deprived areas), and could act as a broker between interested researchers and these communities.