Environment, is it time to entrust science to ordinary citizens?

As an academic at University College London, Richard Batarby spent his entire life studying the freshwater environment, but only found himself after retirement when he moved to Yorkshire At the forefront of the battle to save a river. Fishermen from the town of Ilkley, near the area where Batterby lives, began collecting condoms, wet wipes and sanitary napkins from their ropes. Residents noticed that fish and other animals were dying In large quantities. The water changes color whenever it rains heavily. Something was wrong with River Wharf.

Batterby, along with other members of the Society of Naturalists in Warrdale, suspect that the true cause of the pollution is one of sewage discharge Farther along the river is operated by Yorkshire Water Company, the area’s privatized water company.

Faced with the refusal of the government and the Yorkshire toilet to help them out, the residents of Ilkley resort to it Citizen sciencecollaborative research by private citizens that is not only helping to change the way residents protect the local environment, but also leading many to question scientific institutions as a whole.

there Citizen science can call Design and conduct studies About some issues, but also contribute to Data collection.

Ilkley case

in Ilkley, Residents’ fears dispelled By City Council and Yorkshire Water, the local water company responsible for the river’s wastewater run-off. The British Environment Agency (EA), which Budget has been cut since 2010 120 to 48 million pounds, he said he was unable to investigate or even monitor pollution levels in the river.

Unable to get help, locals, who are now Partners in Ilkley Clean River GroupIt is their responsibility to explain the extent of the problem scientifically.

Batarbe suspects that the real threat was not the litter and droppings that can be seen, but the invisible pathogens that now inhabit the river, a popular place where thousands of people swim each year. “There has never been any data on the concentration of pathogens in the river associated with the discharges into it – Explains Petreby. Since I couldn’t find any protocols, I did what any scientist would, Studied literature and developed methodology“.

Conducting a scientific study with a group of volunteer citizens Harder than it might seem. Unable to rely on college scholarships like most scholars, the Ilkley Clean River Group had to raise money to pay for professional water sampling operations. Then there was sample collection, in which a group of local residents without specific training took up to a hundred samples in different areas of the river. Once recovered, each sample must be stored properly, below eight degrees, and sent to the Coventry Laboratory within twenty-four hours for reliable results.