04 Jan 2021
By George Wyeth
Citizen Science and Environmental Agencies

Citizen Science and Environmental Agencies

Law & Policy, Resources
by Kasantha Moodley, Manager, Environmental Law Institute Innovation Lab, for the Law and Policy Working Group. Cover of Citizen Science Programs at Environmental Agencies report Environmental agencies are increasingly transforming their approach to citizen science, from viewing it as a source of data primarily for education and awareness to a potential source of concrete value for their programs. Although this relationship has existed for some time, the emergence of new technologies, an increasingly aware public, and the rise of unexpected pollution events has reinvigorated the way agencies and the public work together. The Environmental Law Institute was recently asked by…
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08 Jun 2020
By George Wyeth
Science by the People

Science by the People

Law & Policy
Post by George Wyeth, cochair of the Law and Policy Working Group. Prof. Abby Kinchy The potential for science to be used by ordinary citizens as a tool for social change is both empowering and controversial. On the Law and Policy Working Group's January teleconference, guest presenter Prof. Abby Kinchy of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute explored the issues surrounding the use of citizen science (or community-based science) in the policy sphere.  She drew from her recent book, “Science by the People: Participation, Power and Politics of Public Knowledge” (co-authored with Prof. Aya Hirata Kimura of the University of Hawaii).   After…
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