Data Basin

Data Basin is a science-based mapping and analysis platform used by over 32,000 scientists, natural resource managers, and citizen scientists across the globe. Created by the Conservation Biology Institute (a science-based not for profit based in Oregon and Washington), the goal of the platform is to advance environmental stewardship research and collaboration through data sharing and collaborative mapping.

Data Basin provides the tools on its platform to organize collected data and information, including custom drawings and visualizations, to better communicate and map experimental results. It is also ideal for projects and datasets that are being worked on by multiple people, as it provides a central point of data storage and a common platform for work. Collaboration with other citizen scientists is also a core aspect of Data Basin. Citizen scientists are actively encouraged to share created maps and datasets so that they can be used to augment the work of other researchers. Since 2009, Data basin has provided a novel platform for data visualization, modelling, and sharing with other citizen scientists all working towards reaching a better understanding of the environment.

A possible cautionary note for this service is that it is unclear how users are obliged to credit the work of others who have shared their data on the Data Basin platform. Members are, of course, encouraged to give credit, but what forms this might take (and whether this could constitute plagiarism) is unclear.

More Ideas

Air Pollution Robot

The dangers of air pollution to human health are well documented, though the traditional methodology of collecting and reporting on sample lags behind the need to keep abreast and regulate air pollution in a meaningful amount of time. The use of drones and robots have been identified by researchers as resources that can be tweaked […]

Artificial Life, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Ecological Monitoring, Industry/Natural Commodities, Lifestyle, Monitoring

Telematic Rivers

Erica Kermani’s artwork seeks to answer a central question: if rivers were seeing an equal, living entity, would humans take issues like climate change threatening them more seriously? In his year-long art exhibition in 2017, Kermani, in collaboration with Diana Salcedo & Jeana Chesnik, created a new forum of interaction between humans and rivers to […]

Climate Change, Ecological Monitoring, Lifestyle, Monitoring, Pollution, Visual Technologies

Co-occupied Boundaries

Art is easily found in nature but rarely is what considered art today inherently natural. The concept of co-occupied mediums that serve to be both functional for nature and aesthetically pleasing to people is being actively explored by Asya Ilgun and Phil Ayres, from the CITAstudio at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. In […]

Climate Change, Ecological Monitoring, Lifestyle, Monitoring, Pollution, Visual Technologies