In Flint, Mich., a worried mother begins working with lab scientists and fellow community members to test the city's water supply—and helps expose a lead crisis that may have sickened thousands. In Fukushima, Japan, community members build their own radiation detectors to measure the fallout from one of the worst nuclear disasters in history.

And on the gulf coast of Louisiana, a soft-spoken community leader named David Gauthe surveys the damage from another hurricane and wonders what could possibly be in all the dredged-up muck smeared across every yard and garden.

They might not introduce themselves as scientists, but when their communities needed help, science gave them the tools to make a difference. In recent years, “citizen scientists” like them have provided on-the-ground data and expertise on everything from chemical pollution to climate change to COVID outbreaks. Along the way, they've pushed science itself to become more responsive, more effective, and more transparent.

Researchers at RAND have now published a do-it-yourself guide to citizen science that walks people with no scientific training through the steps of a successful project. It's based on years of research showing how communities can make themselves safer, stronger, and more resilient with science.

“A lot of community citizen science efforts get started because people see gaps in how the government is responding to a disaster, or they mistrust the data and research coming out of big institutions,” said Ramya Chari, a policy researcher at RAND who has worked for years on citizen science projects. “It's important to acknowledge that community members have a lot more to add to research than just being research subjects.”

Read the full article about community citizen science at RAND Corporation.