A research team of undergraduate students from Kookmin University's Department of Forestry, Environment, and Systems, titled ‘In Search of Stink (Jin Yi Su, Class of 2022; Choi Yu Na, Class of 2025)’, won the Excellence Award (1st Place) in Oral Presentation Session 6 at the ‘7th Forest and Sharing Environmental Academic Forum’. The team was selected for the 4th Citizen Science Seed Project hosted by the Korea Safety Health Environment Foundation and DongA Science this year, conducting research on ‘Research on Stink Bug Odor Recognition’. Their achievements were officially recognized at this academic forum.

The ‘Research on Stink Bug Odor Recognition’ was evaluated as contributing to enhancing ecological sensitivity by collecting and analyzing data on the stink bug's life cycle, odor emission conditions, and odor release mechanisms together with citizen scientists to discover scientific significance, allowing ordinary citizens to directly verify ecological facts. Notably, the research team scientifically corrected the common misconception that stink bugs constantly emit odors. They also operated an exploration program allowing citizens to directly observe morphological differences between nymphs and adults, which garnered significant positive response. This project has already garnered public attention through an article in DongA Science's ‘Earth Love Exploration Team’ (https://m.dongascience.com/news.php?idx=75077) and has been recognized as a model case demonstrating the potential of citizen science-based ecological research.

The Kookmin University ‘In Search of Stink’ team shared their award acceptance remarks: “We are delighted that our sustained collaboration with citizen scientists, continuing exploration and documentation activities, has yielded meaningful results. We will continue expanding our research through ecological projects combining professional study and citizen participation, such as creating our own stink bug field guide.”