COMMUNITY BASED RESEARCH ALTERNATIVES FOR WATER QUALITY MONITORING IN THE NORTHEAST

What are the roles for communities in monitoring water quality? Within the scope of the “hard” sciences, Community Based Research (CBR) has primarily been a community workers model where researchers use the populace as a means of volunteer labor. Despite the questions raised about the quality of the data gathered by volunteers and mistrust of the researcher's motives by communities, the top-down consulting model (where the community sets the agenda, but the professionals design, and interpret the data) is seen as more scientifically reliable than a grass roots movement and is often the preferred method sought after by communities.

The consulting model has been preferred because it is more difficult for communities to possess the expertise to develop, implement, and interpret data. Yet this model lacks in the empowerment of the citizens within the research. They need to feel valued for the expertise they possess about the research site and they need to be informed on how to interpret the data they collect. This collaborative effort that empowers the community is especially important because it is their efforts that will provide the means of push for reform.

This presentation will discuss the interface between science and society, with an example using secondary students as researchers and reporters to the community. The public education system serves as a center point to connect citizens, local governments, community organizations, local businesses, and nearby colleges, in a joint effort to create social capital that will increase the trust developed within the once separate stakeholder groups. These parties can then work on the dispersal of knowledge throughout the community in regard to land-use effects on water resources. The collaboration can encourage a platform for all stakeholders to work together to provide a sustainable means of policy enforcement or creation to safeguard drinking water.