Gwen Ottinger, University of Virginia
Chemical Heritage Foundation, Brown Bag Lecture
Time: 12:00 - 1:00 p.m.
Place: 6th Floor Conference Room, Chemical Heritage Foundation
The environmental justice movement has given rise to new instruments for air monitoring. The homemade “bucket” sampler and the more sophisticated “Hound” both allow residents of communities near chemical plants to measure levels of toxins in the ambient air. As tools for citizen science these devices alter the relationships between residents and experts from plants and regulatory agencies; however, the two do so in very different ways. Ottinger will chronicle the evolution of the bucket and the Hound, describing the disparate ways that use of the instruments configures relations among community members, environmental justice advocates, instrument designers, and industry and agency experts.