Barn Raising!!!

Barnraising possibilities for Voting:

1. Site: Refinery community Issue: Indoor Air Quality Tool: Roomba/Spectrometer Collaborators: Asthma Files, LABB, Jeremijenko X-Clinic. Roomba Hacking Community, Sensing specialists/ Wilma Subra

Roomba Idea--refinery or other industry community, health issue asthma, citizen health groups, type of community--day of community presentation, work day small groups outside/inside/

1. (2 votes, 2nd place) Site: Gas Patch Issue: Air Quality indoor/outdoor Tool: Roomba/Spectrometer/NDVI Collaborators: Asthma Files, OGAP, skytruth,

2. Site: NYC Issue: Heat loss Tool: Thermal imaging Collaborators: East Harlem Tutorial Program, if we needed a big institution Parsons or CUNY Institute for Sustainable Cities would be interested. (FLIR salesman demo)

3. (4 votes, 1st place) Site: Gulf Coast Issue: Wetland restoration/agriculture Tool: NDVI Collaborators: LUMCON, Skytruth, Bayou Rebirth, Lake Ponchatrain Basin Foundation, Evaluate rates of shoreline erosion and loss of vegetation using aerial cameras. Look at species differences across salt tolerance ranges (i.e less salt tolerant vegetation migrates landward over time). DETECT OIL. known issue with blown out infrared camera.

Tools options: Air Sensors on Roomba, NDVI,

Site: [Small br for thermal camera or expand it to fuller br - (weekend working on equip in cambridge august 5-7)] Talk about NDVI, but do aerial mapping as a wrap up to make tool as complete as possible- Mat, go through all rigs and do comparisons

Sara- Don’t agree, want to use to get solid research up and going on another tool, sub working group thinking about diff. ways to do tools- want to keep having cycles of adaption- not look at things are aiming for completion. Knight goal of three tools working by end of year.

Adam- to do good barn raising with interested people coming, need to do something thats a bit further along. Adam- possibly postpone barn raising until next fall. This year, do it but make it small

Mathew- kite/balloon mapping- N. Craig, academic papers, invite some of these academics, tie with barn raising about imaging technologies- its both new tool development in the context of expanding old tool dev.

What about two diff. tools- one indoor/one outdoor-
Stewart: sensors that could be mounted on kite or on roomba

Butte- access issue, so far away from airport- pollution testing, heavy metals

Regional work groups

Split sessions- $1,000 for three groups, a couple different subgroups

Sara on Sensors: how do we make the readings immediately available as a comprehensive visual image -- via long-exposure camera.

Mat on sensors: new initiative for PLOTS. environmental sensors have been indicators only -- using sensing platforms as a means of alerting people to take better scientific samples. Dontflush.me trial case. Sensor working group: on roomba, on pole, kite runners, situated in critical spots (overflow pipes). System of alerts via text message. “All sensors should encourage a socially engaged science”- but should also have relevance to a community (sh)

Mat - caution on using disaster areas an experimental ground

Shannon - true to a point, but people on the ground need tools to collect data to speak to gov agencies

Shannon: communities might not be interested in creation of the tool, but use of the tool and getting results they need.

Sara: thermal camera to see “thermal blooms” in water from industry and power generation.

Shannon: refineries and manufacturing on Mississippi - not canoe accessible. would need a boat.

Mat: skeptical of ability to create low-cost accurate real-time monitors for pollution. likely that we get data that is “suggestive”. Sensing working group starting to work on inexpensive chemical and biological testing like Sara’s yeast assays. Sensors need very specific parts - hard for wide participation. Cameras are more hackable by anyone, materials can be adapted from nearby trash - results in “compelling” images.

Field work this week

Montana - Butte. community mapping historic communities/ topography. oil spill in Billings. Data collection going on in archives * transfer Internet skills to local communities. Olivia coordinating local partners. Seeking more local partners in NorthWest region.

Gowanus kiting last week and ongoing, scouting many locations for multiple teams to be out with rigs in late July TBD 30th/31st?. Eymund, Lee Altman, Lise Brennen, Leif, Jen Hudon, Liz attending. need more equip - can equip be mailed? purchased? Stewart be technical purchaser

Collaborations

• police - Adam will contact Scott using Mathew’s text as a framework. Shannon - send me contact info.
• Parsons (and other universities) legal consult? Talk to Berkman Center to talk through legal issues generally - Sara set up call with Shannon and Liz and Adam. Figure out how MIT/C4CM set up open source. Knight had to create their own IP agreement through “buying/sponsoring a center” at MIT.
• UNICEF - 11am Friday call into NYC meeting? and Shannon, Sara. Liz will confirm.
• Urban Ag in NYC - measuring stormwater potential meeting Friday afternoon about cheaper DIY equip: Liz, Leif, Tyler, Eric.
• Bioremediation in NYC - printing a field guide should we offer public archive/catalog help?
• http://www.eyeonearthsummit.org/ - Liz on Working Group for “Applications”, heading a short “thought paper” on civic science vs crowdharvesting, DIY tools (hardware/software) with Craig Mills. Want input from group.
• Belize>>need decision making (tied to next plots staff call)
• toxics Lise Brenner in NYC re: fracking upstate.