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UID:pretalx-citizen-science-communication-trust-2026-8MUGFR@ifkw.rz.tu-bs.d
 e
DTSTART;TZID=CET:20261005T114500
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DESCRIPTION:Citizen science is widely regarded as an important practice of 
 public engagement with science\, grounded in the assumption that participa
 tion naturally generates mutual trust between citizens and scientists. Thi
 s assumption forms the theoretical basis for the central question posed by
  the PCST 2026 Berlin Symposium—whether trust in science can be fostered
  through participation and related science communication. Yet this optimis
 tic narrative\, which treats trust as a natural byproduct of participation
 \, obscures a more complex reality: trust is not spontaneously generated b
 ut requires continuous production and maintenance as an ongoing achievemen
 t.\n\nThis study aims to reveal a form of labor that has long been overloo
 ked in citizen science—the invisible work performed by project coordinat
 ors to sustain trust. The research questions focus on four dimensions: how
  does the citizen science project coordinator produce and sustain trust in
  her daily work? What strategies does she employ? What structural constrai
 nts does she face? What are the labor characteristics of this trust work? 
 By addressing these questions\, this study seeks to bring trust maintenanc
 e from the background into the foreground of academic inquiry.\n\nThe stud
 y draws on in-depth fieldwork conducted within a single citizen science pr
 oject in ChinaAdopting a qualitative research design\, the study employs i
 n-depth interviews\, work diaries\, and WeChat group observation. The proj
 ect manager responsible for core coordination was tracked over two months\
 , supplemented by interviews with two assisting staff members.\n.\nTheoret
 ically\, this study draws on three interconnected traditions. Emotional la
 bor theory reveals the affective work coordinators perform to manage parti
 cipants’ emotional fluctuations. Invisible work theory explains why such
  labor remains persistently unrecognized institutionally. Studies of scien
 tific practice extend the analytical lens beyond the laboratory\, conceptu
 alizing trust maintenance as the infrastructural labor of this emerging fi
 eld of scientific practice. Integrating these traditions\, this study prop
 oses that trust maintenance constitutes a form of labor that is simultaneo
 usly emotional and invisible.\n\nThe research finds that the coordinator
 ’s trust maintenance work comprises three interconnected forms of labor.
  First\, technical interpretation labor refers to the communicative work p
 erformed to bridge the expertise gap between scientists and the public. Th
 e central challenge lies in the incomplete translatability of professional
  knowledge\, requiring the coordinator to navigate between scientific rigo
 r and public comprehensibility. Second\, emotional labor refers to the aff
 ective work performed to manage participants’ emotional fluctuations. Th
 e central challenge lies in the individual variability and unpredictabilit
 y of emotional experiences\, requiring the coordinator to respond to parti
 cipants’ anxieties and expectations on a one-to-one basis. Third\, expec
 tation management labor refers to the coordination work performed to balan
 ce scientific goals with public expectations. The central challenge lies i
 n the difficulty of aligning these two sets of objectives\, requiring the 
 coordinator to continuously negotiate between dual responsibilities. These
  three forms of labor interweave in practice\, collectively constituting t
 he infrastructural foundation that enables citizen science projects to fun
 ction\n\nThe theoretical contributions of this study are threefold. First\
 , it reconceptualizes trust as an achievement requiring ongoing labor to m
 aintain\, rather than a natural precondition for collaboration. Second\, i
 t reveals the invisible character of trust maintenance labor and its insti
 tutional causes. Third\, it deepens understanding of the emotional dimensi
 on of science communication\, demonstrating that emotion management critic
 ally affects project success.\nPractically\, this study suggests that citi
 zen science project designs should acknowledge the resource demands of tru
 st maintenance work\, develop evaluation mechanisms that recognize invisib
 le labor\, and incorporate emotion management into professional training. 
 Methodologically\, it demonstrates the value of combining in-depth intervi
 ews\, work diaries\, and WeChat group observation for capturing emotional 
 interactions and invisible labor in science communication.\n\nThe central 
 finding of this study responds to the core question posed by the PCST 2026
  Berlin Symposium: trust can indeed be fostered through participation\, bu
 t this fostering is not automatic. It requires coordinators to invest cont
 inuous\, invisible\, and often underappreciated everyday labor. Bringing t
 his labor into academic view is not only a faithful representation of citi
 zen science practice but also a deepening of the mission of science commun
 ication—science communication is not merely the transmission of knowledg
 e but the maintenance of relationships\, the production of trust\, and the
  cultivation of public emotions.
DTSTAMP:20260721T213743Z
LOCATION:Tagungsraum
SUMMARY:Invisible Trust Work: How Citizen Science Project Coordinators Mana
 ge Trust Behind the Scenes - Jin Zhou
URL:https://ifkw.rz.tu-bs.de/citizen-science-communication-trust-2026/talk/
 8MUGFR/
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