The Center for Distributed Science uses participatory research methods to gain insights that might otherwise be inaccessible. The Center designs technologies with low barriers of entry to help far-flung communities conduct local research and understand how science shapes their lives. That is, the Center puts data collection and analysis into people’s hands, whoever they are, wherever they are, and links outputs to other researchers and the wider world.
Students conceptualize, build, and maintain hardware and software that enable this method of science. In partnership with the Alaska Arts Platform, the Center also explores game design for participatory scientific discovery.