Expert Bio

Alison Parker, PhD serves as a Senior Program Associate with the Science and Technology Innovation Program (STIP) at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. With STIP, Alison evaluates and amplifies innovative and participatory approaches to science and technology, including citizen science and low cost and open hardware. She also serves on the Board of Directors for the Citizen Science Association, including as Chair in 2019-2020, and is a member of the Editorial Board of Citizen Science: Theory and Practice. 

Previously, as part of the Innovation Team in the Office of Research and Development at the US Environmental Protection Agency, Alison led initiatives to increase the use of crowdsourcing and citizen science for EPA research and decision-making. She earned her PhD from the University of Toronto Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, where her dissertation evaluated the effectiveness of native pollinators, including through citizen science

Wilson Center Project

Science and Technology Innovation Program