We’ve got to live on this planet (even if some of us want to explore beyond it), and that means a keeping a healthy environment. Geeks can do their part to make sure we keep Earth livable.
If you’re at all informed about environment science, you’re probably a bit concerned about the environment. From global warning to the effects on fracking, it’s a bit hard not to come to the conclusion we could manage our use of the planet much better. As we geeks are usually quite enthused about science, we’re also painfully aware of the problems we face.
Fortunately there’s no small amount of people out there you can help, get involved with, or donate too. Everyone’s got the same idea as you, and there have been organizations dedicated to helping us preserve the environment around for a long time.
It’s also hard to know where to start. Here’s a few suggestions to get you going:
- Donate or get your geeky club/group/convention to donate to appropriate causes.
- Donate time. This is great if you’re particuarly oriented towards either STEM (and the hard science of the environment), have the skills needed by the various groups (such as web work or speaking), or both. Time is often more valuable than money
- Spekaers. Run a convention? Get speakers from appropriate organizations to discuss the science and issues of the environment. If you’re part of a fiction-writing geekdom, you can combine good world building with good awareness of how our world has structural problems.
- Do citizen science – From dedicating time to local citizen science groups, you can often find people focused on daily, hands-on scientific activities from recording to explaining issues.
There’s problems. Maybe we geeks can do what we can to help out.
Resources
- Engineering for Change – A community to connect engineers, governments, social scientists, and more to share knowledge and solve problems in a sustainable way.
- Engineers Without Borders Canada – A nonprofit Canadian organization that supports sustainable community engineering projects around the world.
- Engineers Without Borders USA – A nonprofit US organization that supports sustainable community engineering projects around the world.
- Marine Conservation Institute – An organized, sustainability-oriented institute focused on protecting marine ecosystems. Heavily driven by partnerships, alliance, and outreach.
- Nerds For Nature – And all-volunteer organization that brings together communities, scientists, and technologists to understand and preserve nature, including hands-on projects. Located in California.
- Oceana – An international organization focused on sealife preservation and marine issues
- Project Noah – A software platform that brings citizen scientist together in various projects to record and preserve biodiversity and understand nature.
- Skeptical Science – A site dedicated to explaining the science of global warning. Always looking for help in donations or paper review.
- World Wildlife Fund – Focuses on preserving and protecting wildlife and related environmental and pollution issues.