Johan Vellekoop, postdoctoral researcher in
geology and palaeontology at Vrije Universiteit Brussel and KU Leuven, shows
how citizens like fossil collectors are often active participants and
stakeholders in palaeontology research and communication. Fossil enthusiasts
actually play a critical role in palaeontology research as the vast majority of
fossils in museums have been found by fossil hunters. Therefore, close collaboration
between academia and the fossil collecting community is key. Also joint events
and communication for researchers and
citizens are important, as are training in outreach and communication for
researchers to bring science to the public and interact with citizens.