Maryland Science Center – Citizen Science – C3.

The Maryland Science Center is developing a smartphone application to allow users to measure and monitor the urban heat island effect.  “UNI provides a glimpse” according to their website, “at what the world may look like with warmer temperatures.”  This will help urban planners and inhabitants to develop strategies to cope, e.g., planting more shade trees and choosing varieties and species that are well adapted to the climate of the urban environment.

This is a good example of how ICT can enhance citizen science, a particularly promising flavor of public participation consistent with good government principles.  Smartphones, while sometimes available, are not widely affordable in developing countries, and in many places, the data networks to support them are not in place.  There are however ways to use SMS, which is widely available, for citizen observations.  Any good examples of environmental monitoring using SMS would be welcome!

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