The University of Massachusetts Amherst

Category: Science, technology & society

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Environmental policy Science, technology & society

Lights, Camera…Invasive Species Training Videos!

The Nature Conservancy has awarded Jared Starr, a research associate with the National Center for Digital Government (NCDG), a contract to develop a series of insect pest identification videos.

Starr, a master’s student in the Environmental Conservation department at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, secured the funding thanks to the positive response environmental professionals have given earlier invasive plant videos that he created with fellow NCGD research associates Lena Fletcher and Nate Bush. Those videos were created for the Outsmart Invasive Species project, which enlists the help of “citizen scientists” to identify and report invasive species using smartphone technology.

The new videos will be part of the Nature Conservancy’s Healthy Urban Trees Initiative, a nationwide project that aims to keep urban trees healthy and prevent widespread destruction by invasive insects. Starr’s videos will target the Asian longhorned beetle, the emerald ash borer, the hemlock woolly adelgid, the winter moth and the gypsy moth.

To watch Starr’s earlier training videos and a commercial he created advertising the Outsmart Invasive Species app, visit www.youtube.com/user/OutsmartProject.

The Outsmart project is a collaborative effort led by Associate Professor Charles Schweik (environmental conservation and public policy) and Jennifer Fish, director of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation’s Service Forestry program. It is funded through a Forest Service grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

NCDG was created with support from the National Science Foundation to develop research and infrastructure for the emerging field of information technology and governance. It is housed at the Center for Public Policy and Administration, the hub of interdisciplinary public policy research, teaching and engagement at UMass Amherst.

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Faculty Honors & Awards Faculty Research Science, technology & society

Fountain Gives Keynote Address on Digital Governance at Turkish National Assembly

Jane Fountain, professor of political science and public policy and director of the National Center for Digital Government, gave the keynote address last month at the Turkish National Assembly as part of the national awards ceremony to honor recipients of the “eTurkey Awards” for outstanding e-government innovations and practices.

Building on the belief that Turkey’s transition to an information society depends on an effective eTurkey transformation, TÜS?AD, the Turkish Industry and Business Association, and the Turkish Informatics Foundation (TBV) have organized the “eTR Awards” since 2003. Fountain discussed her research and engagement on the implications of open government, open data, and the challenges of transformation in democratic societies.

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Environmental policy Governance Science, technology & society

Feb. 8 Panel to Discuss Public Engagement in Biodiversity Governance

NOTE: This event has been canceled due to Friday’s expected blizzard.

The Science, Technology and Society Initiative at the Center for Public Policy and Administration (CPPA) will host a panel discussion titled “Governing Biodiversity: Citizen Voices on the Global Stage” on Friday, Feb. 8 at 1:30 p.m. in Gordon Hall 302-304. Panelists will use the recent World Wide Views on Biodiversity project as an example of how the general public can be effectively engaged in environmental policy discussions.

As part of the World Wide Views project, CPPA lecturer Gretchen Gano and two CPPA students worked last summer and fall to recruit 100 participants from across Massachusetts for a day-long discussion about environmental regulations and policies. The Massachusetts event, held at the Museum of Science in Boston, was one of 34 that took place in 25 countries around the globe. Results from all of the sessions were then compiled into a report, which was released in October at the meeting in Hyderabad, India, of the U.N. Secretariat for the Convention on Biological Diversity. CPPA was able to participate in the project thanks to a university Public Service Endowment grant to the Science, Technology and Society Initiative.

Next month’s panel will include Gano? David Sittenfeld, Forum program manager at the Museum of Science, Boston? Richard Worthington, professor of politics and chair of the Program in Public Policy Analysis at Pomona College? and Darlene Cavalier, contributing editor for Discover Magazine and founder of the citizen science site SciStarter. Professor Jane Fountain (political science and public policy) will moderate.

CPPA is the hub of interdisciplinary public policy research, teaching and engagement at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

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Faculty Research Science, technology & society

CPPA to Offer Online GIS Course This Summer

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) programs allow you collect, manage, display and analyze geographic data. Understanding GIS is valuable in today’s competitive and tech-dependent job market. This summer, graduate students, undergrads and professionals can all gain a basic knowledge of this important tool through an online introductory GIS course.

GIS is much more than just making geographic maps using a computer! By evaluating the relationship between different spatial information you can identify the best location for new development, locate pollution point sources, find the easiest way to get from point A to point B, and develop a better understanding of the way the world interacts around us.

The goals of this three-credit course are to teach you basic GIS concepts such as spatial data sources and structures, projections and coordinate systems, data editing and creation, and geospatial analysis. This course is designed with environmental applications of GIS in mind, but is relevant for students in almost any field that deals with place-based information and is widely used in public policy and administration settings. It involves the hands-on use of the software product ArcGIS on a Windows PC platform.

This is a great opportunity to learn from a team with both practical and research experience in applied information management as it relates to environmental policy. Associate Professor Charles Schweik (environmental conservation and public policy) has taught classes like this for more than 12 years. He is also the associate director of the National Center for Digital Government and is an affiliated researcher with the Science, Technology and Society Initiative; both of which are housed within CPPA. Co-instructor Walter Jaslanek is an environmental conservation Ph.D. candidate at UMass Amherst who has more than a decade of hands-on professional experience working with GIS and related technologies.

The course runs from July 8 to August 16. Enrollment opens March 18.

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Faculty Research Science, technology & society

Schweik Addresses Technology, Knowledge and Society Conference

Associate Professor Charles Schweik (environmental conservation and public policy) gave a plenary address during the annual International Technology, Knowledge and Society conference, on Jan. 14 in Vancouver, Canada.

His talk, titled “Internet-based Collaboration in Open Source Software,” described some of the history of open-source software, as well as some selected results from a five-year National Science Foundation-funded study on the topic. Schweik also noted how open-source collaborative principles on the Internet are being deployed in other areas, such as in collaborative writing, hardware design, scientific collaboration, innovation in culture, and educational material production.

This lecture was based in part on the research that was the foundation for Internet Success: A Study of Open Source Software Commons, by Schweik and Robert English (MPPA ’08).

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Governance Science, technology & society

National Center for Digital Government Hosts Five International Fellows

During the 2012-2013 academic year, the National Center for Digital Government (NCDG) is hosting five international scholars. Each is researching ways to make both government and technology more accessible in their home countries. The Center for Public Policy and Administration (CPPA) is delighted to have the following scholars in our ranks this year:

  • Diego Rafael Canabarro is a research assistant at the Center for International Studies on Government of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, in Brazil. His research explores the relationship between the adoption of information and communication technology, state capacity, and democracy.
  • Raquel Galindo-Dorado is a professor of economics and business and director of the International Academic Research Program at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. She is working on a project with the Harvard Kennedy School that is assessing the curricular needs and innovations at business management graduate programs throughout Latin America. She will then use that research as a template for evaluating graduate public policy programs in the same region.
  • Dwi Elfrida Martina is an e-service officer at the Ministry of Information and Communication Technologies of the Republic of Indonesia. During her NCDG fellowship, she is also pursuing a master’s degree in public policy and administration at CPPA. Her research focuses on internet governance and inclusion in the information society.
  • Toks Oyedemi is a lecturer at the Department of Communication at UMass Amherst. His research explores the intersection of (dis)empowerment, social inequality and communication technology throughout Africa. Currently he is examining patterns of digital inclusion and exclusion among South African youth.
  • Sreela Sarkar is an instructor at the Social Thought and Political Economy program and a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Communication at UMass Amherst. While at NCDG, Sarkar is working on two collaborative research projects: 1) Examining the intersection of broadband internet access with collaborative governance practices and civic participation in western Massachusetts; and 2) A comparative study of the effect that technology use in health programs has on notions of “modern citizenship” among marginalized groups in South Africa and India.

NCDG was created with support from the National Science Foundation to develop research and infrastructure for the emerging field of information technology and governance. It is housed at CPPA, the hub of interdisciplinary public policy research, teaching and engagement at UMass Amherst.

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Environmental policy Events Science, technology & society

Gano to Represent CPPA’s STS Initiative at Wilson Center Forum

CPPA lecturer Gretchen Gano will speak next week at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars about engaging the public in evaluating technology use in science and in social decision-making.

This forum, titled “Technology Assessment and Public Participation: From TA to pTA,” will be webcast live from the Wilson Center on Thursday, Dec. 6, from noon to 2 p.m. Gano and other speakers will explore ways to change the current paradigm whereby everyday people pay for technology through taxes and consumer purchases, but rarely are involved in assessing that same technology in a meaningful and influential way. The recent World Wide Views on Biodiversity project will be used as an example of how the public can be effectively engaged in these kinds of discussions.

As part of the World Wide Views project, Gano and two CPPA students worked last summer and earlier this fall to recruit 100 participants from across Massachusetts for a day-long discussion about environmental regulations and policies. The Massachusetts event, held at the Museum of Science in Boston, was one of 34 that took place that day in 25 countries around the globe. Results from all of the sessions were then compiled into a report, which was released in October at the meeting in Hyderabad, India, of the U.N. Secretariat for the Convention on Biological Diversity.

CPPA has been able to participate in this innovative global project thanks to a university Public Service Endowment grant to the Science, Technology and Society Initiative, a CPPA-affiliated endeavor that conducts multidisciplinary research on the intersection of science and technology with today’s social, political and economic issues.

Other speakers at next week’s event include David Rejeski, director of the Wilson Center’s Science and Technology Innovation Program; Richard Worthington, professor of politics and chair of the Program in Public Policy Analysis at Pomona College; Darlene Cavalier, founder of Science Cheerleader and SciStarter and contributing editor of Discover Magazine; David Sittenfeld, Forum program manager at the Museum of Science, Boston; Tim Persons, U.S. Government Accountability Office; and Mikko Rask, head of research at Finland’s National Consumer Research Centre.

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Faculty Honors & Awards Faculty Research Science, technology & society

Schweik Recognized Among Top 50 Education Innovators Nationally

For his cutting-edge use of open-source software in the classroom and as a research focus, Associate Professor Charles Schweik (environmental conservation and public policy) has been named one of this year’s top 50 innovators in education by the Center for Digital Education, a national research and advisory institute specializing in education technology trends, policy and funding.

Schweik started teaching at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1999 and was an early proponent of using wikis as a learning tool to help engage his students. In 2004 he co-founded UMass Amherst’s open source laboratory, a resource for social science students and faculty. More recently, Schweik has been actively involved in the launching of the university’s Open Education Initiative, a project started by the provost’s office and University Libraries last year to help reduce textbook costs for students.

Through that initiative, Schweik received two $1,000 grants from the university in 2011 to develop open-source educational materials for two of his classes. Thanks to one of the grants, Schweik published his own scholarly work online, which allowed students to use the Web-based version of the course pack for free, or purchase a printed copy for only $13. The university estimates that during the 2011-2012 academic year, its $10,000 total investment in open-source educational material development saved 700 students upwards of $72,000.

Schweik doesn’t only use open-source materials in the classroom, though. He is associate director of the National Center for Digital Government, and his research both relies upon and focuses on shared technologies. In a project funded by the USDA Forest Service, Schweik is partnering with the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation to engage everyday people in governmental and scientific efforts to collect valuable data about invasive species: Through a free smartphone app, iPhone and Android users around the state are helping locate invasive plants and pests that could harm the area’s natural resources and economy. And earlier this year, MIT Press published Schweik’s first book, Internet Success: A Study of Open-Source Software Commons, which is the result of the first large-scale empirical study examining the social, technical and institutional aspects of open-source software.

The Center for Digital Education article acknowledges that “technology does not transform learning itself. It is an aid and a tool to effective, creative instruction that only can come from properly trained and innovative instructors.” Schweik was the only educator from Massachusetts featured in the piece.

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Faculty Honors & Awards Faculty Research Governance Science, technology & society

Fountain Elected to National Academy of Public Administration

Professor Jane Fountain (political science and public policy) has been elected a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, which was chartered by Congress in 1967 as an independent body to help government leaders build more effective, efficient, accountable and transparent public sector organizations. Fountain will be inducted as a new fellow during the National Academy’s annual meeting tomorrow in Washington, D.C.

The National Academy relies on its fellows to conduct in-depth studies and analyses that anticipate, evaluate and make recommendations on crucial public management, governance, policy and operational challenges that face the federal government and public sector organizations. Fellows also provide technical assistance, Congressional testimony and participate in forums or conferences.

Fountain joins roughly 700 fellows that include members of Congress; federal and state cabinet members; federal department deputy and undersecretaries; governors; mayors; leading scholars; and chancellors, presidents and deans of colleges and universities. Fellows often are asked to lend their expertise on complex issues that require agreements and partnerships bridging various government departments and agencies, and that sometimes necessitate public-private alliances. For example, National Academy fellows have helped create a management transformation plan for federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies and have established benchmarks for environmental programs that span federal, state and local sectors.

New fellows are elected by the entire membership after a rigorous nomination process each spring. This is the latest honor Fountain has received for her work on improving government services and transparency around the globe. Last spring, she was named to Gov. Deval Patrick’s Council for Innovation, an appointed body that advises the governor on ways to improve government efficiency and use technology to streamline delivery of services to people, businesses and local governments. Fountain also is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on the Future of Government, a group that she chaired in 2010-2011.

In addition to these posts, Fountain directs the National Center for Digital Government and heads the Science, Technology and Society Initiative, both of which are based at the Center for Public Policy and Administration. The National Center was created with support from the National Science Foundation to develop research and infrastructure for the emerging field of information technology and governance. The Science, Technology and Society Initiative conducts multidisciplinary research on the intersection of science and technology with today’s social, political and economic issues.

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Faculty Research Science, technology & society Student news

CPPA Faculty and Students Study Information-Sharing Technologies and Trends

A growing number of UMass faculty, staff and students — including many affiliated with CPPA — are working in partnership with academics from around the globe to establish what they’re calling the Workshop in the Study of Knowledge Commons. The group meets informally to talk about ways to influence the common good through open-access information and media; open-education initiatives; open-source software systems; and open-source hardware.

CPPA participants include Associate Professor Charles Schweik (environmental conservation and public policy); Assistant Professor Martha Fuentes-Bautista (communication and public policy); Dwi Elfrida (MPPA ’13); Kevin Moforte (MPPA ’13); and Diego Canabarro (visiting fellow with the National Center for Digital Government). Other campus participants come from the Du Bois Library and the departments of anthropology, communication and physics. The workshop structure, which emphasizes students and faculty co-producing with no real hierarchy, is in tribute to Schweik’s doctoral advisor, Lin Ostrom, who co-founded the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis at Indiana University.

If you would like to participate in the UMass Workshop on the Study of Knowledge Commons, please email Schweik.