Category: Misc

UCL Sustainability week – a global university that is also Sommers Town local university

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UCL is marking its sustainability week between 29th October and 4th November. As part of the activities to mark the Green UCL initiative. I was interviewed to this video, together with other researchers and professional staff who are committed to integrating sustainability into their work. The video was shot around UCL and the nearby area. … Continue reading UCL Sustainability week – a global university that is also Sommers Town local university

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citizen science, Environmental information, Green UCL, Misc, sustainability, Sustainable development, UCL

Nature article on citizen science: mixing typologies

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About a week ago, the journal Nature published a feature article about Citizen Science No “PhDs needed: how citizen science is transforming research“, with the subtitle: “Projects that recruit the public are getting more ambitious and diverse, but the field faces some growing pains.” The report was written by the science journalist Aisling Irwin who contacted me, among … Continue reading Nature article on citizen science: mixing typologies

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citizen science, Misc, nature, VGI

Barbara Hoenig’s “Europe’s New Scientific Elite”

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I never knew that with respect to the European Research Council (ERC), I belong to a (small) group called “Dual role incumbents”. Not until I’ve read “Europe’s New Scientific Elite: Social Mechanisms of Science in the European Research Area” – A book by Barbara Hoenig which came out in 2017. The way I heard about … Continue reading Barbara Hoenig’s “Europe’s New Scientific Elite”

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Brexit, Concepts, ERC, EU funding, European Research Council, Horizon 2020, Misc

Giving time – randomised experiments on volunteering and citizen social science

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As the event blurb explained  “the Giving Time experiments were led by a team from four UK universities, who wanted to know whether sharing information about how others have volunteered could help to improve volunteering… this was about giving time – and whether volunteers can be nudged. The methodology was randomised control trial (RCTs) in real-life … Continue reading Giving time – randomised experiments on volunteering and citizen social science

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citizen science, Citizen Social Science, Conference, Giving Time, Misc, Randomised Control Trials, RCTs, Research projects

UCL Fossil Fuel Divestment debate

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UCL organised a debate about fossil fuel divestment, with 7 knowledgeable speakers (all professors), raising argument for an against the suggestion that UCL should divest from fossil fuels and sell its £21million invested in the industry. In the room and on the panel there were more people who supported the motion than those who opposed it. … Continue reading UCL Fossil Fuel Divestment debate

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climate change, Concepts, Earth Summit, Environmental information, fossil free UCL, fossil fuel, Keep it in the ground, Misc, Principle 10

nQuire-it/Sense-it – discovering sensors in your phone

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The Open University, with support from Nominet Trust and UTC Sheffield have launched  the nQuire-it.org website, which seem to have a great potential for running citizen science activities. The nQuire platform allows participants to create science inquiry ‘missions’. It is accompanied by an Android app called Sense-it that exposed all the sensors that are integrated in a smartphone and let […]

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citizen science, data collection, Misc, nQuire-it, Phone sensors, Sense-it, Usability, VGI

The value of “analog” user experience

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I’ve been using 37Signals’ Basecamp now for over 5 years. I’m involved in many projects with people from multiple departments and organisations. In the first large project that I run in 2007 – Mapping Change for Sustainable Communities – Basecamp was recommended to us by Nick Black (just before he co-founded CloudMade), so we’ve started […]

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37signals, Basecamp, Misc, Project management, Sherry Turkle, Usability