Public Participation in Environmental Monitoring: Sociospatial Analysis of Environmental Education in a Southeastern Watershed

• In Event: Spatial and Geographic Analysis in Environmental Education Research

Abstract

Introduction & Objectives

Wishing to go beyond the catchall of “citizen science,” Bonney et al. (2009) recently published a groundbreaking report on public participation in scientific research (PPSR) that examines the wide range of science inquiry conducted through informal settings. While focused on public- scientist partnerships, this report provides only a passing mention to the descriptive work of environmental monitoring. Also, their portrayal of PPSR merely touches upon the diverse range of networks and educational opportunities among the lay public and science professionals that surround environmental monitoring projects.

This three-year ethnographic research follows members of four non-governmental organizations who conduct water quality monitoring in a river watershed in the southeastern US. By examining the socio-spatial networks among these environmental organizations and inter-group relationships, this research documents the diversity of monitoring in a watershed that extends across three states. We analyze the socio-spatial relations of members as they learn to use scientific protocols for being “water watchers.” In addition, this research focuses on how local activities are coordinated and tied to larger constructions of citizenship and dominant understandings of what constitutes “science.”

Theoretical Framework(s)

In this research we emphasize context and spatial relations among sites where monitoring practices and environmental education occurs, as well as the flows of people and information among sites. These locations are linked to notions of place, territory, and scalar formations (Jessop et al., 2008). Like Gieryn (1999), we are interested in how science is represented “upstream” among federal agencies, universities, and other politically powerful institutions in contrast to the ways science is given meaning, produced, and consumed “downstream” among citizens and the public. Our research orientation draws upon actor network theory (Latour, 2005), as well as taking a cultural historical approach to situated social practice (Lave, 1993).

Modes of Inquiry & Data Sources

Data analyzed includes observations of meetings, participant observation at monitoring sites, and interviews with members in relation to their socio-spatial context. Using these data we examine the cultural reproduction of practices surrounding environmental monitoring. In addition, we contrast these data with the ways that members use electronic media, social networking, and the Internet to share data and leverage political agendas.

Results

Among the participants we found extensive overlap among more affluent groups, which impacts access to social and cultural capital. One affluent group has board members who are former employees of state or county agencies with science data they can leverage at multiple levels (local, state, and federal). Less affluent, regionally isolated members struggle to develop protocols and use their environmental monitoring effectively with local and state agencies.

Scholarly Significance

This research suggests ways that larger institutions such as universities and environmental education centers can assist and support community-based groups, while preserving local praxis and sustaining locally situated and critically informed, civic knowledge. This research points to the ways the public is engaged to become involved in public policy, natural resource decision making, and actively involved in stewardship activities.

Authors

• Carol B. Brandt, Temple University

• Jessica Stephenson, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University