How citizen scientists are using open hardware to make new discoveries

You can find them anywhere. Gathering data on how pesticides affect birds, mapping the impact of an oil spill and monitoring the air quality in their communities, citizen scientists are advancing scientific discovery using open hardware and open source principles and they are doing it from their own backyards.

Premiering at Red Hat Summit, “The Science of Collective Discovery” documentary film dives into the world of citizen scientists and how open hardware is enabling them. Citizen scientists are ordinary people with varying degrees of training who contribute to scientific research in their spare time. While digital advancements - big data, open access, mobile technology, etc. - have made discovery more accessible, open hardware is the key to furthering the way these projects conduct research. Ultimately, taking an open source approach to hardware is fueling an open source approach to science.

The film features notable experts from the world of citizen science including Caren Cooper, professor, author and a leading expert on citizen science; Bronwen Densmore, open hardware community manager at Public Lab; Eymund Diegel, research coordinator at the

Gowanus Canal Conservancy and Public Lab Grassroots Mapping Project; Shannon Dosemagen, executive director of Public Lab; Ting Ting Fu, climate justice organizer at UPROSE; Brian Gonzalez and Jason Gomez, youth organizers at UPROSE; and Michael Heimbinder, founder and executive director of HabitatMap.

Part of our Open Source Stories documentary series, “The Science of Collective Discovery” is the latest installment to highlight and share stories about how openness is a catalyst for change. Open source is changing the world in many different ways - from technology innovation and management advancements to innovations across sectors. We have long understood the power of collaboration to produce amazing results. With Open Source Stories, we’re showing what people can do when they make things in the open. Because when we share, we thrive.

The documentary will premiere simultaneously during the 14th annual Red Hat Summit in San Francisco at the Moscone Center, Room 2007 on Wednesday, May 9, at 5:15 p.m. PT, and online at https://www.redhat.com/collective-discovery.

For replays of the film and more information about Open Source Stories and “The Science of Collective Discovery” visit https://www.redhat.com/en/open-source-stories. Watch the film and share it with others using the hashtag #opensourcestories to help us shine a light on ways open innovation is changing the world.