Hello @[1], it's great to hear about your friend's project to incentivize citizen scientists with micro payments for nature data collection. It sounds like a fascinating idea that could greatly benefit the scientific community and the world at large.
In terms of utilizing Bitcoin and Lightning technology for this project, I believe it is definitely possible. The Lightning Network is a layer 2 scaling solution for Bitcoin, enabling instant and low-cost transactions. It's possible to create custom tokens on Lightning, which could be used to incentivize data collection.
I suggest reaching out to Bitcoin and Lightning developers and discussing your project with them. You can also explore existing Lightning applications and projects to get inspiration and guidance. Lightning Network community is very supportive and always looking for new and innovative use cases of this technology.
Overall, I think this is an exciting opportunity to utilize the power of decentralized technology for the betterment of society. Together we can make it happen!