Lakeman-Fraser, PoppyGosling, LauraMoffat, Andy JWest, Sarah EFradera, RogerDavies, LindaAyamba, Maxwell Avan der Wal, René2016-12-052016-12-052016-07-22Lakeman-Fraser, P, Gosling, L, Moffat, A J, West, S E, Fradera, R, Davies, L, Ayamba, M A & van der Wal, R 2016, 'To have your citizen science cake and eat it? Delivering research and outreach through Open Air Laboratories (OPAL)', BMC Ecology, vol. 16 , no. Suppl 1, pp. 16. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12898-016-0065-01472-6785PubMedCentral: PMC4965728http://hdl.handle.net/2164/7828Acknowledgements We would like to thank the Big Lottery Fund for financing this research through the OPAL programme and Defra for supporting the publication of this manuscript. David Slawson and Kate Martin provided guidance throughout the development of this manuscript. Lastly, we are grateful to the OPAL participants, without whom this citizen science programme would not be possible.1360611engCitizen scienceevaluation frameworkLessons learnedOPALoutputsoutreachpublic participation in scientific researchresearchtrade-offvolunteersQH301 BiologyQH301Journal article10.1186/s12898-016-0065-016