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Brace Yourself For the Comeback of Citizen Scientists
From water-testing polluted rivers to measuring radiation levels, ordinary people are taking environmental research into their own hands.
Richard Battarbee spent his entire life studying freshwater ecology as an academic at University College London—but it was only when he retired to Yorkshire that he found himself on the frontline of a battle to save a river. In 2020, England witnessed 403,171 raw sewage dumps into its rivers and seas, according to a report by The Guardian —over three million hours of spillages, precipitated by water companies’ outdated infrastructure and lack of investment. Attaching mobile geiger counters fitted with GPS trackers to cars and distributing sensors to anonymous volunteers, the group was able to gather what might be a record amount of radiation measurements.
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