Reviews
reviews

**Hello and welcome!** 👋🏻 🎉 Thanks for visiting and learning more about Public Lab’s organized research activities. On this page, you’ll find information on Research Area Reviews, which are ways we work together to grow and organize shared knowledge on [environmental topics](https://publiclab.org/topics) at Public Lab. What are research area reviews for? What happens during a review? Current and past research area reviews Join us! Contact us to learn more Visit the [research area review tag page](https://publiclab.org/tag/research-area-review) to see the latest review-related posts on Public Lab, and get updates on reviews by following the #research-area-review tag: Follow Research Area Review _Lead image by [@mollydanielsson](https://publiclab.org/profile/mollydanielsson)_ ## What are research area reviews for? Anyone can come to Public Lab to learn about an environmental topic and find information on accessible, do-it-together tools for investigating local environmental concerns. **Research Area Reviews aim to keep information on environmental topics up-to-date, organized, and useful for community scientists** 🥽📝. There are already many fantastic resources on community science methods out there–our aim is to uncover, collect, build upon, and contextualize these resources so that people can **see a pathway for researching their local environmental concern**. If there are resources we think are important but can’t find, we sometimes also develop them. For more details, see “[What happens during a review?](https://publiclab.org/wiki/reviews#What+happens+during+a+review?)” 🎈 **This is a collaborative project!** Many people bringing their own lived and learned experiences on a topic leads to richer resources and conversations that more people can learn from. 💁🏽 **And there are many ways to participate!** Anyone can contribute while also building their own knowledge and experience on a topic. See “[Join us](https://publiclab.org/wiki/reviews#Join+us!)” below for more! ## What happens during a review? The overall process for a Research Area Review roughly follows the outline below. They’re currently coordinated by @bhamster and a stellar team of [Research Curation Fellows](https://publiclab.org/wiki/research-curation-fellows) 👋🏽. We aim for a balance between structure to keep us on track and flexibility to enable all kinds of contributions and ideas to take shape. **Review process** Research Area Reviews currently happen every three months, cycling among the larger topics of air, water, land/soil, and organizing and advocacy. For each three-month review period, we choose an environmental topic to review under the larger topic for the quarter. In choosing a topic, we consider those that Public Lab community members are actively working on and topics that are in need of a little extra attention. _**Kicking-off a review:**_ + To start a review, we hold a public kick-off call to welcome people to the review process, talk about how to get involved, begin conversations about the review topic, and help shape the direction of the review. _**During a review:**_ + We surface and post questions on the topic by examining existing resources and listening to people working on the topic; + We talk with people to find answers to these questions; + We also talk with people to learn and document their experiences with the topic; + We research and post information on accessible methods and tools and their uses for community science; + We create step-by-step activities for getting started with community-led research on the topic; + We outline next step challenges in tool development and research on the topic; + We collect and organize these questions, activities, and other resources on a collaborative wiki page. _**Wrapping up a review**:_ + We hold a public event to share our findings, talk about remaining questions and ideas for next steps, and welcome anyone new to the refreshed resources; + We post a summary of the review, including links to updated resources, recordings of events, and shout-outs to all who contributed. 💡 **If you’re interested in contributing to any part of this process, [check out the contribution guidelines here](https://publiclab.org/wiki/contributing-to-reviews)!** ## Current research area review Stay tuned for more information soon! In the meantime, check out [our events calendar here](https://publiclab.org/events#Calendar+of+events) and join an upcoming call to say hello ☎️ ## Past research area review events and summaries A key part of a research area review is getting together to talk and connect with each other on a topic and relevant methods and tools! Below, you’ll find recordings from the most recent public events for a research area review, plus links to resources shared on the call and links to any summary posts. ### March 31, 2022: Mine reclamation research area review To wrap up our research area review on mine reclamation, we talked about various methods and resources that communities can and have been using in their monitoring and advocacy. [Check out a summary of the review here](https://publiclab.org/notes/bhamster/04-12-2022/mine-reclamation-research-area-review-summary). **Resources shared on the call:** + Public Lab posts, questions, and wikis on mine reclamation: + https://publiclab.org/tag/mine-reclamation + https://publiclab.org/wiki/mine-reclamation + https://publiclab.org/wiki/evaluating-the-success-of-mine-reclamation + The Mountains and Mines Monitoring Project: https://publiclab.org/wiki/the-mountains-and-mines-monitoring-project + The Sand Sentinel Program: https://publiclab.org/wiki/the-sand-sentinel-program + Aerial photography: https://publiclab.org/aerial-photography + Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) to monitor plant health: https://publiclab.org/ndvi + Citizen Monitoring Manual, Appalachian Water Watch: http://ace-project.org/resources/AWW_Citizen_Monitoring_Manual.pdf + Resources on pH monitoring: https://publiclab.org/ph + Resources on conductivity monitoring: https://publiclab.org/conductivity + Methods related to soil quality: https://publiclab.org/methods#soil + Signature Development for Aerial Photo Classification: Louisiana Wetland Forest Mine Reclamation project: https://publiclab.org/notes/eustatic/03-11-2022/signature-development-for-aerial-photo-classification-louisiana-wetland-forest-mine-reclamation-project + Social Aspects of Mine Closure: https://www.mineclosure.net/ ### Research area review archive 🗄️ **[Click here for a full archive of the research area reviews listed below](https://publiclab.org/wiki/reviews-archive), including video recordings and all links shared on the call.** #### December 13-17, 2021: Air Quality Data research area review [Click here to see this review in the archive](https://publiclab.org/wiki/reviews-archive#December+13-17,+2021:+Air+Quality+Data+research+area+review) #### September 29, 2021: Wastewater research area review [Click here to see this review in the archive](https://publiclab.org/wiki/reviews-archive#September+29,+2021:+Wastewater+research+area+review) #### June 30, 2021: Mapping for organizing & advocacy research area review [Click here to see this review in the archive](https://publiclab.org/wiki/reviews-archive#June+30,+2021:+Mapping+for+organizing+&+advocacy+research+area+review) #### March 31, 2021: Soil contamination research area review [Click here to see this review in the archive](https://publiclab.org/wiki/reviews-archive#March+31,+2021:+Soil+contamination+research+area+review) #### December 16, 2020: Air quality research area review [Click here to see this review in the archive](https://publiclab.org/wiki/reviews-archive#December+16,+2020:+Air+quality+research+area+review) #### September 23, 2020: Microplastics research area review [Click here to see this review in the archive](https://publiclab.org/wiki/reviews-archive#September+23,+2020:+Microplastics+research+area+review) ## Join us! via giphy There are many ways to participate in a research area review. People with any level of experience or available time are welcome and encouraged to join! If you’re interested in contributing to a review, please see our [contribution guidelines here](https://publiclab.org/wiki/contributing-to-reviews). ## Questions? Want to learn more? + Drop into one of Public Lab’s weekly [Open Calls](https://publiclab.org/wiki/open-call) to talk with us! + Email jeanette [at] publiclab [dot] org Also please get in touch if you have ideas or suggestions for the Research Area Review process outlined on this wiki! _This documentation and organization of this project is heavily informed by the fantastic [Open Leadership Framework](https://mozilla.github.io/open-leadership-framework/framework/#who-and-what-is-this-framework-for) from Mozilla_ ...


Author Comment Last activity Moderation
liz "Glad you could all connect. It is the case, and by design, that this platform does not support direct messaging. We work in public so that we can h..." | Read more » almost 3 years ago
ptrick127 "Thanks! I'll keep that in mind. " | Read more » almost 3 years ago
amocorro "@ptrick127 and @seankmcginnis you're welcome to drop-in to next week's Open Call here at Public Lab to carry on the conversation! These are the kin..." | Read more » almost 3 years ago
ptrick127 "Hi @seankmcginnis, I'm actually not super active on Twitter and can't figure out how to send a DM (looks like it's blocked?). I found you on Linked..." | Read more » almost 3 years ago
bhamster "Also here are the LINKS that were shared in the Zoom chat: https://giscollective.com/ Community map created by @LESBreathe to monitor the changes..." | Read more » almost 3 years ago
bhamster "Thank you to everyone who joined this call yesterday! A fabulous group of organizers and mappers came to the call and exchanged knowledge, questio..." | Read more » almost 3 years ago
ptrick127 "Sounds good - I'll connect with you there. Talk soon. " | Read more » almost 3 years ago
seankmcginnis "@ptrick127 - I would be more than happy to talk with you about some of the work we did in Philadelphia. If you’d like we can connect on Twitter. " | Read more » almost 3 years ago
WendyBrawer "I'm attending as is Mary Jo Burke from @LesBreathe " | Read more » almost 3 years ago
amocorro "I will be attending! " | Read more » almost 3 years ago
ptrick127 "Hi @seankmcginnis, would you be available sometime to talk about your work with Public Lab Philadelphia? I'm working with CMU Libraries in Pittsbur..." | Read more » almost 3 years ago
seankmcginnis "I will see you there " | Read more » almost 3 years ago
seankmcginnis "I will be attending! " | Read more » almost 3 years ago
liz "@seankmcginnis @eymund @hagitkeysar @Claudia , you're invited! Tuesday May 11, 7pm UTC " | Read more » almost 3 years ago
liz "I will be attending! " | Read more » almost 3 years ago
bhamster "@lilymccraith In case you're interested, this is tomorrow! " | Read more » almost 3 years ago
bhamster " @bhamster has marked @liz as a co-author. " | Read more » almost 3 years ago
bhamster "For details on the soil sampling toolkit demo by @jjcreedon that will follow this call, check out this event post! https://publiclab.org/notes/bham..." | Read more » almost 3 years ago
Bernard "I will be attending! " | Read more » almost 3 years ago
sureta "I will be attending! " | Read more » about 3 years ago
Benperrin "I will be attending! " | Read more » about 3 years ago
bhamster "@ngocthuyluu, @gfedorke, @sureta, @CherokeeConcernedCitizens, @Ag8n, letting you know about this in case you're interested! " | Read more » about 3 years ago
gteix "I will be attending! " | Read more » about 3 years ago
jjcreedon "I will be attending! " | Read more » about 3 years ago