The New York Times’ blog The Wild Side has an interesting post today that argues for more citizen science, rather than the centralized science of big projects like the Large Hadron Collider.
“Citizen Science won’t be very helpful in genome sequencing or particle physics. But it will be helpful — indeed, perhaps essential — for gathering a kind of data that will be increasingly important over the next few decades. Widespread networks of observers are especially well-suited to detecting global change — shifts in weather patterns; movements in the ranges of species; large-scale transformations of ecosystems — and that, unfortunately, is something we will need to know far more about if we are to mitigate and adapt to the fateful effects we are having on the planet.”
As we argue for larger and better systems to map our infrastructure, let’s be sure to include a means to collect and aggregate citizen science in order to empower and engage citizens while improving our understanding of our planet.
