Public Lab is an open community -- you're welcome to simply [sign up](/signup) and start contributing in a variety of ways. If you are interested in a more formal collaboration, just ask staff@publiclab.org.

For an overview, click through the links in the "Participate" dropdown menu (at the top of this page): 

[![Screen_Shot_2014-11-05_at_10.00.20_AM.png](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/007/721/medium/Screen_Shot_2014-11-05_at_10.00.20_AM.png)](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/007/721/original/Screen_Shot_2014-11-05_at_10.00.20_AM.png)

###Some ways to be a part of the community:

* email the list to say hello, describe your interests, and offer your skills to existing projects
* ask for help with a public science issue and reach out for collaborators
* connect with or organize a [local chapter](/places) to investigate environmental, social, and other issues in a participatory way
* post a research note describing the starting point of, or developments in, your project
* contribute to better [documentation](/wiki/guides) (tutorials, diagrams, even just offering critique) of the [tools](/tools) we all use

###More ways to be part of the community:

* co-author [articles & papers](/media) (in research journals, newspaper op-eds, magazines, etc) with other community members
* co-author grants for research and for working with specific communities
* adopt and contribute to units of our curriculum (mainly the [mapping curriculum](/wiki/mapping-curriculum) at this point) in universities, schools, and public workshops -- use some of our resources and add your own. Also see the [guides](/wiki/guides) we're starting to develop for our tools.
* translate [guides](/guides#Translations) into your favorite language

###Areas we need specific help in:###

* organizing meetups with residents in our [partner communities](/places) to test new tools and gather data with proven ones
* developing better and more comprehensive documentation & tutorials around our existing tools
* archiving and publishing consistent data sets (from spreadsheets and geotiffs to interviews with community members)
* outreach to research, policy, and legal institutions (Environmental Law Clinics, for example) to get our data adopted and used for advocacy outcomes

###When in doubt

[![youotter_law-keven-flickr-ccsharalike_copy.jpg](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/011/318/medium/youotter_law-keven-flickr-ccsharalike_copy.jpg)](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/011/318/original/youotter_law-keven-flickr-ccsharalike_copy.jpg)