17 Sep 2025
By AAPS Board
AAPS Submits Amicus Brief on Community Air Monitoring in Louisiana

AAPS Submits Amicus Brief on Community Air Monitoring in Louisiana

AAPS News, Law & Policy
Jay Benforado, Board Chair, Association for Advancing Participatory Sciences On September 5th, AAPS submitted an amicus brief (available below) to support a May 2025 lawsuit challenging a 2024 Louisiana law that restricts community air monitoring. AAPS has been tracking this legislative process, first formally commenting on it in December of 2024. The impacts of the law are significant, and the implications for the field of participatory sciences are concerning (i.e., other states enacting similar laws, future restrictions on other environmental monitoring like water quality, etc.). This has already had a chilling effect on community air monitoring in Louisiana, as large…
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24 Mar 2025
By AAPS Board

US Federal leadership in participatory sciences – a position statement

AAPS News,
From across the AAPS membership and from partners in many sectors, we hear and share widespread concern that participatory science activities will be impacted by the current curtailing of US Federal agency budgets, personnel, and programs. AAPS is grounded in the work of science, education, and civic engagement. We care deeply about this country's commitments to and global leadership in those areas as a whole. The AAPS Board offers the attached position statement (below) to make sure that, in the midst of changes, the significance and value of the participatory sciences––and of Federal agency leadership in these practices––is not overlooked.…
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13 Dec 2024
By AAPS Board

Community Air Monitoring Supports Collaborative Problem Solving: A position statement on the Louisiana Community Air Monitoring Reliability Act

AAPS News, Law & Policy
The Association for Advancing Participatory Sciences (AAPS) believes there is considerable value to be drawn from participatory sciences––for both science and society––and we strive to be the go-to organization to support both leaders and learners in this field. AAPS works to find opportunities to expand scientific discoveries and impacts, to rethink who gets to participate in and benefit from science, and to reimagine what is possible for communities, equitable research partnerships and action-oriented science. And, our role is to help spotlight what is working as well as what is not. As AAPS Board Chair, I am interested in finding ways…
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