January through March 2019 Update from SmartPhones4Water (Q1 2019)!

SmartPhones4Water (S4W) mobilizes young researchers and citizen scientists and leverages the power of mobile technology to improve lives by strengthening our understanding and management of water. Lots of exciting stuff is happening! Keep reading to find out what we've been up to, what we're looking forward to, and ways that you can be a part of it! We appreciate your interest and support! :)

S4W World Takeover Initiated!

NEPAL (ahem... Asia)!

We recently published two peer-reviewed journal articles based on our work in Nepal! Links and a short description of each are included below:

• Citizen Science Flow Assessment - published in the Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (HESS) journal, this study evaluates simple streamflow measurement methods that can be implemented by citizen scientists to help fill the growing data gap resulting from a declining trend in streamflow measurements on a global scale. The study was conducted in the Kathmandu Valley to characterize pre- and post-monsoon streamflow conditions in 2018.
• Soda Bottle Science - published in the journal Frontiers in Earth Science as part of a fantastically-titled research topic (MacGyver in Geosciences), this study evaluates the potential to mobilize citizen scientists using simple rain gauges (constructed from inexpensive, readily available materials) to improve our understanding of rainfall processes. The study was conducted during the 2018 monsoon in the Kathmandu Valley with over 150 citizen scientists participating in data collection. Thanks to everyone who was a part of this!
  • Only the abstract is currently available online, but the full-text should be available soon!

NETHERLANDS (...Europe)!

We are excited to announce a collaboration with the Water Management department at Rotterdam University of Applied Science, in collaboration with Associate Professor Martine Rutten (who is also on S4W's advisory board). The collaboration will be focused on finding ways to mobilize the university's undergraduate field data collection efforts to help close water data gaps. Initially, students from the Hogeschool will focus on systematically monitoring waste in the Netherlands’ waterways (see here) along with urban infiltration. Stay tuned to learn more about this in the future!

On March 21st, SmartPhones4Water will also be providing a training on SmartPhone data collection in collaboration with the TU Delft Water Management department. The training will be recorded and posted publicly. We'll be sure to share this link in our next newsletter!

CALIFORNIA (...North America)!

In the near future, we'll be looking to recruit citizen scientists to collect data and for opportunities for collaboration with universities and young researchers in California as well! We actually have two citizen scientists already collecting precipitation data; one in the northern part of the state (in the Sacramento Valley near the city of Winters) and one in the southern part (in the greater Los Angeles area). The figure below shows the preliminary precipitation record for February at the location near Winters. It's been a wet winter in California!



Additionally, S4W will be presenting at the This Way to Sustainability conference hosted by California State University Chico at the end of March. You can find out more information about this presentation here.

3 continents down and 4 to go ;)

Ways that YOU Can Get Involved!

S4W-Nepal Stories!

Every so often, someone writes a story about our work. We also publish either an interview with a citizen scientist or science story about what we're doing through our website from time to time. You can check them all out below! The ones in italics are new ones that have come out since our last newsletter :)