Citizen Science at the Waag Society

http://publiclaboratory.org/notes/warren/6-27-2012/waag-society-citizen-science-presentation

Transcript

1. Public Laboratory for Open Technology and Science: Open-source development of tools for grassroots science
2. Public Laboratory: * hundreds of contributors * open source environmental science research * anyone can join/contribute
3. "Please help us do our science!"
4. Scientists Non- Scientists Non- Scientists Non- Scientists Non- Scientists
5. Ask Questions Test: collect data Process, interpret Draw conclusions, advocate
6. Balloon and kite mapping who & why, not what
7. Don't we already have satellite imaging?
11. GC/Gowanus
14. Go map something important!
18. Balloon Mapping Kit $95 BYO: camera & helium PublicLaboratory.org
19. Open Source Software/Hardware/Data
20. Balloon mapping kit variations
21. Shared "Research notes" - open source, discussion, refinement
23. New applications & tools
27. Chris Fastie, dual IR camera rig
28. Gowanus Canal, Brooklyn, Summer 2011
31. Thermal photography $1,000-30,000 PLOTS "Thermal Flashlight" $40
32. Roomba-based indoor air pollution monitoring
34. Detecting contamination
39. Basically... 1. A broad-spectrum light (halogen, incandescent) is shone through a sample 2. Some colors are absorbed more than others depending on its composition 3. Diffraction grating splits light into colors so they can be measured separately 4. A webcam measures each color and graphs their intensities. This is compared to known samples.
40. RAYLEIGH UV-1601 Range: 190 - 1100 nm Resolution: 2nm Price: Lots
41. http://www.iucaa.ernet.in/~scipop/Obsetion/spectro/pizza_box_sp.htm
42. $30 Public Lab Spectrometer
43. $30 DIY visible-near- infrared spectrometer
46. Compact fluorescent lightbulb spectra (for calibration) "Hello world"
50. Problems with Environmental Science and Health Research • Expensive • Limited to hands of experts • Lag in knowledge between experts and people on the ground • Local residents don’t own the data • Collection/interpretation is opaque and illegible • Industry has far greater capacity to generate data
51. Grassroots Approach to Environmental Health Monitoring • Community oriented and developed • Community-owned • Tools can be shared, adapted and improved in a decentralized, open source fashion • Supports public exploration and investigation of environmental issues
52. How to Participate in Public Laboratory • Email Jeff • Join the website/mailing list: PublicLaboratory.org • Reproduce and improve existing tools • Work with others in the community to refine, brainstorm, challenge, test, and explore • Found a local chapter, organize meetups!