Course Meeting Times
Four sessions held across 3 weeks.
Lectures / discussion: 2 sessions, 2 hours / session
Makerspace Hands-on: 1 session, 4 hours
Field Hands-on: 1 session, 2 groups, 1.5 hours / group
Course Overview
Put citizen science into action to tackle climate change! This course explores approaches to applying scientific data and new technologies toward climate-related research needs, community risks, and policy actions. Natural gas leaks (a major source of methane emissions) will be a particular focus. Through in-class lectures and discussion, a “maker”-style activity and a data collection field trip, participants will learn about effective science-based community action and practice putting that knowledge into action themselves.
Prerequisites
This non-credit course has no prerequisites. Problem solvers of all backgrounds and experience levels are welcome. Just bring a passion for changing the world for the better and an eagerness to roll up your sleeves.
Calendar
| SES # | SESSION TYPES | TOPICS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lecture / discussion (2 hours) | Introduction to citizen / community science networks in operation, including Public Lab; future of community science for climate action. Discuss some relevant field examples. |
| 2 | Makerspace Hands-on (4 hours) | Tools to visualize & verify: A mini-hackathon on data collection and data visualization, and a hands-on introduction to the tools for live data collection of methane gas leaks. Details on the history of natural gas infrastructure nationally and in Boston area. |
| 3 | Field Hands-on (2 x 1.5 hours) | Methane leak “safari”: A field trip to collect live data on methane leaks in the natural gas infrastructure, using a van equipped for mobile GPS-linked monitoring and a handheld probe for up-close investigation. |
| 4 | Lecture / discussion (2 hours) | Discuss the ways data can inform public decision-making: Using citizen data in legal cases, and the challenges and promise of sustainability footprints. Debrief of methane leak data collected on the prior field trip. |
