This website is the product of an anthropology class at the University of Colorado Boulder. We had the unique opportunity to collaborate with atmospheric scientists at NOAA who are part of the TOAR project – the Tropospheric Ozone Assessment Report. As part of a global initiative to study the effects of ozone pollution, they work with massive amounts of data collected from around the world to build comprehensive computer models of ozone levels.
In contrast, our work looked into the social impacts of this environmental issue by zooming in on our local community in the Front Range of Colorado. As anthropologists, we interviewed the scientists and their colleagues to learn about their work and invited them to reflect on how their fellow citizens would engage with scientific research. We also interviewed lawyers working on policies that regulate air quality and manage pollution. Meanwhile, we put out a public survey to the whole community asking people for their personal experiences with air quality in the region. Our research focused on how people thought about and experienced this global challenge. Whether we’re scientists, lawyers, teachers, farmers, parents, students, gardening enthusiasts, professional athletes, or just people who enjoy the outdoors, we share the same atmosphere.
Research Questions
- Where do gaps in knowledge and communication emerge between different populations affected by ozone pollution?
- What knowledge, or communication methods cause members of the general public to become more engaged with the issue and with policy decisions?
- How can climate science be presented in a bipartisan way that creates a dialogue, that engages all constituents?
Dialogue
By connecting with people who brought very different perspectives on the same topic, we saw an opportunity to create dialogue between these different groups. While an in-person group discussion isn’t possible right now, we hope that this website will partly take the place of a community forum on ozone pollution. The pages on our site highlight some of the unique perspectives and themes that emerged as we talked to our participants. We invite you to participate in the dialogue by reading the perspectives as we did, reflecting on your own position, and sharing your thoughts at [TBD].
The Pandemic
There’s no avoiding the topic of the COVID-19 pandemic as we share our experiences as students in the spring of 2020. Or to put it differently, we can’t ignore the fact that we are humans, who were trying our best to work something that felt meaningful and important in a time of crisis. Our campus transitioned to remote learning in mid-March, which meant that we scrapped our plans for in-person visits to local farms to learn about ozone’s effects on vegetation and crop health. We did our interviews over Zoom calls, as well as our group meetings to work on the project. In some ways, our interactions felt more intimate, even if spatially, they were remote. We met each others’ family members and pets through our calls, saw our interviewees’ living rooms with photos on the wall or an antique fireplace, and met them in their comfiest hoodies or with their kids interjecting. While we would have loved to see the scientists’ lab at NOAA or visited the office of a community organization, working remotely forced us to get more personal. You can read more about how the pandemic and the project affected our individual lives in the About Us page.
