Hi Kim,
Thanks for sharing your data collection and storage methods. One type of "data" that you've identified, Twitter conversations, has become increasingly important in my research as well. This brings up a question that I often grapple with: how "public" is public data and what steps must be undertaken to ensure that interlocutors are protected, especially in cases where this information may already be circulating on and through social media itself? In many cases, I've seen some interlocutors screenshot conversations from more "closed" social media forums, like WhatsApp and Facebook groups, and circulate these images on Twitter. This has been a hot topic in Mauritius (where I conduct research) as of late; there has been an escalation in attacks on freedom of the press and free speech, which comes hand-in-hand with a recent heavy fuel oil spill offshore and public critiques of government inaction. I wonder if, or to what extent, this may also be an issue for your research?
Hi Tim, thanks for sharing these evocative images of nurdles and the forms of citizen science that goes into their mapping and collection. This work reminds of the data collection techniques and protocols that have been established by Dr. Max Liboiron and the Civic Laboratory for Environmental Action Research (CLEAR). Baby Legs, perhaps the most well-known open source, "low-tech" apparatus and protocol established by CLEAR demonstrates not only the methods by which Baby Legs is put into action, but further establishes an open archival approach to documenting the process. For Liboiron and members of CLEAR, this collaborative process of research and documentation is inextricably woven into their protocols as feminist and anti-colonial scientists as well as for engaging citizen-scientists and the public at large.