*There is so much going on in the Public Lab community this week that I'm
having trouble keeping up! In the next week, catch mappings and workshops
in the Bay area, New York and New Jersey, get excited for a kite building
workshop in early July as well as for the upcoming issue of the Grassroots
Mapping Forum featuring a map of the Chandeleur
Islands<http://publiclaboratory.org/map/chandeleur-islands-louisiana/2010-05-09>from
the early days of the BP oil spill. New in notes this week, there is
an intriguing line-up that includes sketches for a thermal flashlight power
ring, a mobile version of the spectral workbench, comparison notes from
aerial and ground mapping as well as 3D imaging from Louisiana's Big Branch
NWR, and updated notes for the in-development air column monitor. Enjoy!*
 *
1. Mapping in the Bay area (Cali) tomorrow. Bobby Sudekum sent a message
out this past week about heading to Alta Plaza Park tomorrow (6/16) at 1pm
to do an aerial mapping. Everyone is welcome to join, he'll be bringing the
equipment, but bring a camera if you have one. If you need to get ahold of
him beforehand, email rsude...@gmail.com.
*2.* EPA Citizen Science Workshops.* Join us in downtown New York on
June 19<http://r2citizensciencenyc.eventbrite.com/>for the EPA Citizen
Science Workshop. We’ll be presenting on aerial mapping
in relation to understanding and improving water quality in urban
environments. A reprise of the workshop happens in New Jersey on June
20<http://r2citizensciencenj.eventbrite.com/>.
Both days will have aerial mapping demos! For all community members -- if
you would like to run the demo at either location, drop a line to
l...@publiclaboratory.org.
 3. *Hey NYC kite enthusiasts!* Public Lab will be holding a workshop with
the goal of eliminating the need for helium altogether! We’re going to be
building low-wind kites, and designing, testing, and constructing a series
of kite trains. Join the big buildout on Sunday July 1 to fly the kites and
see if we can lift cameras with a series of small kites all on the same
line. Meet at 630 Flushing Ave at 11AM, walk around to the back of the
giant Pfizer building and find us. Bring a bag lunch and we’ll have some
snacks too. Contact mat...@publiclaboratory.org for more information.
4. *North Carolina mapping trips*. Oconaluftee Job Corps Civilian
Conservation Center students mapped a campus in Cherokee, NC with Western
Carolina University (WCU) equipment and aerial mapping techniques. To check
out maps that are being stitched, search OJCCCC in
MapKnitter<http://mapknitter.org/>.
WCU students and an intern from Duke University mapped a community garden
in Sylva, NC <http://mapknitter.org/map/view/sylva-community-garden> as
well.

5. *Development of ImageJ macro*. Public Lab community members, Ned Horning
and Chris Fastie have been working on developing ImageJ macro. You can keep
up with the development of the
project<https://github.com/nedhorning/RegisterPhotos>which is an
essential part of the Public Lab IR camera tool. Everyone
is welcome to try it out and report any problems at Github. To run the
macro you can install the free Fiji
environment<http://fiji.sc/wiki/index.php/Fiji>which runs ImageJ in a
friendly GUI. If you are interested in contributing
to programming on this project, please get in touch with Ned through
Github.

6. *Ecosynth, Heralds of Crisis and Public Participation in Scientific
Research*. This past week, Jeff Warren participated in
EcoSynth<http://publiclaboratory.org/notes/warren/6-14-2012/ecosynth-upcoming-...>in
Baltimore. EcoSynth is an NSF funded project for 3D mapping of
forests.
Sara Wylie traveled to Paris to partake in a small gathering between US and
French social scientists called Heralds of Crisis: Ecological Risks and the
Role of Sentinels<http://publiclaboratory.org/notes/sara/6-13-2012/conference-update-he...>.
Shannon Dosemagen has been asked to participate in a steering committee
that will brainstorm the advancement of the field of citizen science, more
formally being referred to as Public Participation in Scientific Research.
The first meeting will convene in
Portland<http://www.birds.cornell.edu/citscitoolkit/conference/2012>this
upcoming August.

7. *Grassroots Mapping Forum #2 coming soon*! The Forum continues to come
together, and contributors are plugging away on their sections:
Chris Fastie and Jeff Warren are working to make a print introduction
<http://publiclaboratory.org/notes/warren/5-17-2012/infrared-camera-ho...>to
their fantastic explanations and instructions of
NDVI<http://publiclaboratory.org/wiki/dual-camera-kit-guide> with
dual camera sets. Amie Stepanovich, Cameron Hunt, Coby Leuschke, Mathew
Lippincott, and Raymond Cha have done a discussion and transcription on
Unoccupied Aerial Systems (UAS) ethics and are editing it down into a
condensed dialogue hitting on issues of image acquisition, data privacy,
transparency, and public participation in this hot-button issue.  The
project grew out of this red-hot
thread<https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!topic/grassrootsmapping/...>
 on the mailing list. Shannon Dosemagen interviewed Scott Eustis, Coastal
Wetlands Specialist with the Gulf Restoration
Network<http://healthygulf.org/>on the importance of wetlands and
barrier islands for the ecological health
and protection of Louisiana.

8. And of course, *research notes*-- another week of really incredible
contributions!
Thermal flashlight as power
ring<http://publiclaboratory.org/notes/mathew/6-13-2012/thermal-flashlight...>(posted
by Mathew)
Lincoln Park Vineyard<http://publiclaboratory.org/notes/cfastie/6-13-2012/lincoln-peak-vine...>(posted
by cfastie)
3D images: Big Branch balloon
mapping<http://publiclaboratory.org/notes/astoicof/6-12-2012/3-d-images-big-b...>(posted
by astoicof)
Mobile (Android) version of spectral
workbench<http://publiclaboratory.org/notes/warren/6-12-2012/mobile-android-ver...>
(posted
by warren)
Point Platte Marsh restoration over time: air vs.
ground<http://publiclaboratory.org/notes/eustatic/6-11-2012/point-platte-mar...>(posted
by eustatic)
Easy kites for kite
trains<http://publiclaboratory.org/notes/mathew/6-13-2012/easy-kites-kite-tr...>(posted
by Mathew)
Air column quality and wind
sensor<http://publiclaboratory.org/notes/shannon/6-13-2012/air-column-qualit...>and
air
column monitor components<http://publiclaboratory.org/notes/shannon/6-13-2012/air-column-monito...>
(posted
by shannon)

Great week everyone! As always, if we missed anything, please email to the
list, post a research note or email shan...@publiclaboratory.org for
inclusion in the newsletter next Friday. Have a great weekend, Shannon

P.S. congrats to the OpenIR team <http://openir.media.mit.edu/main/> who
just announced that they won $7,500 in the MIT IDEAS Competition, we're
excited to watch this project grow and see collaborations form!

--
Shannon Dosemagen
Public Laboratory for Open Technology and Science
publiclaboratory.org
@PublicLab