The Aquarium of the Pacific and its Marine Conservation Research Institute hosted community science symposiums to gather local community science volunteers, practitioners, and scientists to discuss their work. The symposiums brought together people with varying levels of experience who are interested in environmental conservation to share ideas with fellow community scientists from diverse programs throughout Southern California; interact with scientists and experts from California and the U.S.; discover new programs and opportunities for community science in Southern California; and learn more about community science in formal and informal settings.

The Aquarium has hosted community science symposiums in 2016, 2017, and 2018. Summaries from past symposiums are catalogued here. When these symposiums were held, citizen science was the more commonly used phrase for community science.