UC Santa Cruz students try crowdsourcing research; Kickstarter used to raise funds

For cash-strapped college students, scraping together enough money to buy a burrito can be a chore.

Now try coming up with the money to fund a research trip to Alaska. Three UC Santa Cruz students are doing just that using Kickstarter, a website popular with homegrown entrepreneurs to “crowdsource” funding for documentaries, gadgets, graphic novels, albums and more.

But it is rarely used for funding science.

“It certainly isn”t the first time it”s been done, but you rarely see science projects in there,” admits Rachel Wheat, a 26-year-old doctoral student leading what the students are calling the Alaska Predator Research Expedition.

It is an unusual way to help finish off one”s doctorate, but it does solve a problem common to first-time job seekers and young scientists alike – how do you get someone to give you a chance if your resume is a blank?

“The idea is that if we get a little bit of data this fall, we can take that back to larger funding organizations,” Wheat said.

Since launching in 2009, Kickstarter has funded $250 million in projects, at a rate that is now up to $4 million per week. Those projects are overwhelmingly in creative fields, a way for artists to bypass traditional funding gatekeepers while maintaining control of their ideas, even if they become commercially viable.

“Kickstarter is kind of at the intersection of commerce and patronage,” said Justin Kazmark, a spokesman for the company.

Project creators set funding goals, and have anywhere from one to 60 days to meet those goals. Kazmark said 44 percent of proposals get funding, and the Alaska Predator Research Expedition has more than $3,000 in pledges so far, toward a goal of $10,000.

They have until July 1 to meet their goal, or they receive no funding.

“The good thing about Kickstarter is, it”s a very short process,” said 30-year-old Yiwei Wang, another member of the project, along with Taal Levi. “You kind of put yourself out there and within a month, you know.”

The students, all at various stages of achieving their doctorates, hope to travel to an area of southeast Alaska known for a late salmon run that draws thousands of bald eagles annually. They want to see where the eagles come from, as well as document the salmon run”s impact on local carnivores.

Though returns-on-investment are not part of Kickstarter, creators typically offer their funders some reward for their investment – a DVD copy of a documentary, for example. Wheat, Wang and Levi are offering their backers everything from postcards to photos to even lectures about their observations.

They also plan to blog about it, and perhaps one day produce a documentary. The three are all environmental studies students, and part of their mission is to connect science with the public.

“We are concerned about the human angle and connecting the environment to humans,” Wang said.

Follow Sentinel reporter Jason Hoppin on Twitter: @scnewsdude

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