MIT's Independent Activities Period is offering 4 courses on Climate Action Hands On: Harnessing Science with Communities to Cut Carbon. These free, fun, and practical courses focus on local engagement with climate action. The courses are as follows:

Overview of citizen science - Jan 18 1:00 PM -3:30 PM

Introduction to citizen/community science networks in operation, including PublicLab; future of community science and why climate science could benefit from a community approach.

Hackathon on methane leak visualization - Jan 23 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM

Mini-hackathon on database building, app development, data collection equipment design/construction, data visualization, GIS data processing, animation/infographic design, and emissions modeling. Details on the history of natural gas infrastructure nationally and in Boston area, protocols for reporting and fixing leaks, methane monitoring methods, opportunities for community involvement.

Sniffing out urban methane leaks - Jan 31 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM

Hands-on activity collecting data on real-word methane leaks from natural gas infrastructure across Cambridge.

Putting citizen-collected data to use - Feb 1 1:00 PM - 3:30 PM

Debrief data collection on methane gas leaks and understand the value, uses and cautions of citizen-collected data. Discuss problems of field data collection and implications and explore the policy questions for which citizen science data can be used, including the history and record of results of environmental law in practice, science as evidence in legal battles, and leveraging media attention.

Enrollment deadline is January 17. You can register here. Questions? Contact Curt Newton, [email protected]

We hope you'll join us!