There is SUN! For anyone that hasn’t been living through this new Zealand ‘summer’ you might not understand the significance of this. We finally (only two months in…!) have some proper summer weather. Nothing better than reading awesome books in the sun 🙂

It was great to participate in a webinar with Muki Haklay, (Professor of Geographical Information Science in the Dept of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering at University College London) earlier this week. Wow, he is exceptionally knowledgeable around the concepts that make up citizen science and someone that I will definitely need to get in touch with.

His talk reminded me of the influences of Anthropology on social science research, which I just happen to have one of my undergrad degrees in!

Some of the lessons from anthropology that I want to include going forward are:

• Not ruling out a case study because it is in a non-English speaking country, just because it is easier
• Knowing your place while undertaking cross cultural research
• Centring the research around the participant
• Placing the citizen as the expert
• Giving something meaningful back to the case study groups
• Learning about their project in their language (using an interpreter if needed).

I am really excited to do case study research!!! I’m starting to get a little nervous at the complexity it involves, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Need to be mindful of the challenges of time/capacity/budget when choosing the case studies though.

So much to ponder…

Lisa xx

I think that my PhD is developing nicely. Apart from a few bumps here and there, it seems to be smooth sailing at the moment – most likely because I’ve only just started and haven’t hit any of the tricky, complex parts yet!! It’s like a boat slowly making its way out of a harbour, cruising along in the calm waters… on the precipice of getting out into the open ocean with infinite possibilities and the predictions of some pretty heavy swells along the journey!

Highlight of the week – “The work you’ve produced in your first two proper weeks of PhD could be an academic paper in itself” – BEST meeting ever!! Though I now feel like I’ve now set unrealistic expectations!

It has been really nice researching some of the hazards based citizen science projects. I thought for awhile that there might not be many, but actually there are heaps! And really interesting ones too.

But urgh, how to fit in Community Resilience and Hazards and the Science of Citizen Science all together in one epically useful PhD thesis!?!? I have had some great meetings around this over the last week so I am quietly confident that it can be done. But it will take a lot more pondering.

I’m realising that the days where I am at work in the morning and then doing my PhD in the afternoon are going to be a bit tricky. Planning, brainstorming and menial tasks might be a goer on these afternoons – concentrating on reading complex documents may not! I will try to use this time for blue sky thinking, which I think is especially effective when the brain is a bit mushy.

It has also started to dawn on me that this is now my life for 3+ years and I don’t know how to feel about that. Super excited for the journey but also slightly terrified at the time commitment!

On a positive note – plants make me happy. Desk plants were are great idea. They have been named Skye and Tierra. And hallelujah, they are both still alive!

Lisa xx

Meet my two lovely new PhD plants – they are both in need of names…. I’ve been tossing around ‘Penelope’ for the lovely lady in pink. However, I’m not yet completely sold on it and I’m waiting to see what I come up with for the dashing, tall gentleman in the corner. Watch this space!

I went out to GNS Science for a tour and to work for the afternoon on Monday. There were some really lovely people and it is a great space to work from, I will definitely try to get out there once or twice a month.

Still so much topic confusion, especially around the role of community resilience building. Analysing Citizen Science seems big enough without adding this other complex, messy concept. It has been suggested that looking at the ‘value’ could be a way around this.

I feel like I need to lock myself away in a cave for several weeks and just read everything I can find on citizen science. I guess the cave will be my office, and several weeks will be the next few months during my Literature Review stage. I still don’t feel I know enough to work out what to do my Lit Review on though! Need to acquire more brain space…

However, the coolest thing about the PhD journey so far is now hopefully having the opportunity to be a research assistant to the Global Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction in Cancun, Mexico this May!! WOW! So cool, very excited.

But for now, back to the cave…

Lisa xx