Both a Field Scientific Station and a Working Site: The Field Science and Infrastructure of the Groundwater Monitoring Network

• In Event: Science and Technological Innovation in the Re-making of Public Policy and Governance Across Global and Local Space

Abstract

Social science has been concerned with large-scale environmental issues, such as global warming, air pollution and sea pollution for many years. Although most researchers are aware of the fact that these phenomena can affect a large geographical area, few notice the important role played by the system of environmental information collection in advancing our understanding of the environment. Using the archives, published reports, interview of the experts and participant observation in the field station, this article takes“Groundwater Monitoring Network Plan” between 1992 and 2008 in Taiwan as examples, to examine how the production of large-scale environmental information is possible. I argue that most STS scholars have ignored the key role of “scientific infrastructure” in the production of scientific knowledge. By paying attention to the planning, building, operating and applying processes of scientific infrastructure, we can see the way in which both globalization and localization of science entangle with each other.

Author

• Chun-Yi HO, Institute of building and planning, National Taiwan University