Public Lab Wiki documentation



About Public Lab

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The Public Laboratory for Open Technology and Science (Public Lab) is a community which develops and applies open-source tools to environmental exploration and investigation. By democratizing inexpensive and accessible Do-It-Yourself techniques, Public Lab creates a collaborative network of practitioners who actively re-imagine the human relationship with the environment.

The core Public Lab program is focused on "civic science" in which we research open source hardware and software tools and methods to generate knowledge and share data about community environmental health. Our goal is to increase the ability of underserved communities to identify, redress, remediate, and create awareness and accountability around environmental concerns. Public Lab achieves this by providing online and offline training, education and support, and by focusing on locally-relevant outcomes that emphasize human capacity and understanding.

Download a PDF overview of Public Laboratory's work here: public-laboratory-overview-11-22-11.pdf

Join now at: publiclab.org/join

We're developing new tools for civic science with the following features:

  • low cost
  • open source and user modifiable design, with creative reuse of consumer technology
  • ease of use/low barrier to entry for using hardware, software and field methods
  • public participation
  • data legibility (including a preference for maps and other rich visual means of representation)
  • high quality, environmentally and socially relevant data

Useful pages

Who We Are

Public Lab is a growing community that is open for all to join. However, there are seven staff and three board members that support this community.

Support for Public Lab

Public Lab is made possible with support from the Knight Foundation, via the Knight News Challenge.

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Public Lab received generous early support from MIT's Center for Civic Media

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Contact Public Lab Staff

The best way to get in touch is by emailing our staff list at staff@publiclaboratory.org. If you are trying to reach a particular staff member, please visit the Public Lab Staff page. If you need assistance with a kit purchase, please contact retail@publiclaboratory.org. For issues with the website, please contact web@publiclaboratory.org.

We receive mail at:

Public Laboratory P.O. Box 426113 Cambridge, MA 02142

You can also call us at: 504-358-0647 or fax us at: 504-324-0401