Riipen

Create user guide for Trusted Authorities using our climate change web app

Research and gather a list of climate change citizen science applications & data

The GoalClimate change affects current and future generations; adaptation and risk mitigation is necessary. In 2019 we set out to research how software can help deal with the impacts.With the advent of new technologies for environmental monitoring and tools for sharing information, citizens are more and more engaged in collecting environmental data, and many environmental agencies are using these data. A significant challenge, however, is that data users, such as federal, state, and local agencies, are sometimes skeptical about the quality of the data collected by citizen science organizations. We would like you to help us research, and gather data on international citizen science software applications & data sources (eg. open source projects, marketplaces, and applications). Research on how citizen science new technologies collect, analyze and report environmental data, this information will be saved on a template which we will provide.

Category Social sciences + 4

Determine Web Accessibility options for a citizen science website

The Goal Research and document web accessibility standards that can apply to the citizen scientists web application we are building. Use your skills and creativity in all aspects of the design process to identify relevant web accessibility standards, determine which ones could/should apply to the two sections of our prototype (citizen scientist and trusted authority portal).Your ContributionResearch and identify possible web accessibility standardsDetermine which should apply to our website/app and identify the overall user experience accessibility assessment and designTake our citizen prototype screenshots and create mockup HTML that meets WCAG and other accessibility standardsWhy climate solutions need to support web accessibilityAt the start of the project we will provide a walk-through of our prototype site and content. We will also provide a wealth of background material on the application, its use case, goals and objectives, and even detailed low-level fidelity wireframes.

Category Graphic design + 4

Analyzing Deploy Solutions carbon footprint to get to Net Zero

The GoalCarbon Trust states that “A carbon footprint measures the total greenhouse gas emissions caused directly and indirectly by a person, organization, event or product.” Our carbon footprint relates to the impact our organization has on the environment. Our employees work remotely from their homes in different cities and use computers and online web services by Microsoft, Amazon, and other service providers.We would like you to help us analyze, identify and document steps to take in measuring and managing our business carbon footprint including that of our service providers so we can get to Net Zero.

Category Communications + 4

Using software to help communities prepare/respond/recover from coastal erosion

The GoalWith coastal erosion hazards predicted to increase globally, data to inform decision-making on erosion mitigation and adaptation strategies is becoming critical. However, gathering data over wide geographical areas is expensive and time-consuming and often requires highly trained professionals and scientists.We would like you to explore how software solutions can allow individuals who lack formal scientific training to meaningfully contribute to coastal erosion and ocean storm-related research projects as “citizen scientists”.In this project, you will research common risks and problems caused by the impact of coastal erosion and ocean storms, and how climate change will affect those. Then, examine how citizen scientists can help evaluate/ prepare for/mitigate/respond to these problems. What kind of websites or software can assist them in these efforts?

Category Community engagement + 4

Install, configure, and script, a prototype CKAN open data portal in AWS cloud

Category Software development + 4

Identify privacy & personal data issues relevant to a citizen science web app

The GoalWe are in the design and planning phase of a new climate change-related citizen science web prototype (related to "UN Sustainable Development Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts"). The prototype will be a mobile-friendly website that allows citizens to take and submit photos and other “ground truth” observations to the Trusted Authorities, during /after floods. This information can be used to help the authorities assess and predict the flood or disaster scope and impact.We are building a web application prototype that citizen scientists that will use to safely take and submit photos and other "ground truth" observations to the Trusted Authorities, during/after floods and other climate change-related natural disasters. Citizen scientists will be taking images and uploading them to a website. We need to verify who they are and track their observation histories. So, we wish to carefully consider and balance trade-offs between the need to properly verify observations while protecting the privacy of the observers.For instance, citizen scientists may wish to have themselves removed from the system at some point, and we must consider how to do that while retaining some data such as the observations they uploaded. We want to ensure our data ownership and data rights to submitted observations are clearly stated and understood before citizen scientists upload any observation data. Do we need to anonymize the observations, and if so what needs to be anonymized? We would also like you to research and recommend on:What kind of volunteer agreements and terms may we need to enter into with citizen scientists?How does a citizen scientist request their account/data/history be removed?What is the process and considerations by which we remove a citizen scientist from the project?Research relevant Canadian and international laws and regulations related to privacy and data confidentialityResearch existing citizen scientist projects for their privacy and personal data standardsYour ContributionUse your skills and creativity in all aspects to research, identify, and recommend the policies, laws, and standards which might apply to the project, including any the privacy and personal data issues. At the start of the project we will provide a walk-through of our prototype site and content. We will also provide a wealth of background material on the application, its use case, goals and objectives, and even detailed low-level fidelity wireframes. and other recommendations behind the proposed citizen science web application features.

Category Communications + 4

Website SEO Optimization

The GoalClimate change affects current and future generations; adaptation and risk mitigation is necessary. In 2019 we set out to research how software can help deal with the impacts.We have 3 (WordPress-created) websites that support our climate change project and we would like to promote better on search engines:1. https://fight.climatechange.ca/ (our main climate change research)2. http://www.deploy.solutions (our public website)3. http://thanks.deploy.solutions (our thank you website)We are looking for students to help us with SEO optimization on the website content of any ONE of these sites (or one site per team, if you like) and improve our positioning. - Pick a site and review our content, themes, & site structure- Create and document the SEO Strategy- Conduct keyword research and analysis and use SEO guidelines to optimize content and keywords- Review our current WordPress website (content, backlinks, sitemaps, etc.) and suggest specific SEO updates for our websites/pages

Category Website development + 3

Help Organize an "Alpha test” for our Citizen Science climate-change app

The GoalWe are in the design and planning phase of a new climate change-related citizen science web prototype (related to "UN Sustainable Development Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts"). The prototype will be a mobile-friendly website that allows citizens to take and submit photos and other “ground truth” observations to the Trusted Authorities, during /after floods. This information can be used to help the authorities assess and predict the flood or disaster scope and impact.We are in the design and planning phase of a new citizen science web application prototype. The goal of the prototype is to demonstrate a feedback loop between citizens and trusted authorities during climate change-affected natural disasters, such as flood. We need to enlist citizen scientists, NGOs and trusted authorities to help evaluate how useful and easy to use our prototype features are. We plan to perform two citizen science simulations over the course of our overall project. The first one will be a limited “alpha”, likely run in Ottawa (although student assistance can be done remotely). It is intended to test our early functionality, course-correct any issues or gaps, and identify the required simulation participants, test scripts, training, communication, coordination, and identify how best to evaluate the results.We therefore need help planning, communicating with interested parties, and holding the event with them to capture the alpha/beta test feedback. Your ContributionThis is an "alpha software test event" conducted with with citizen scientists, NGOs, and other interested third parties.Contribute research, event coordination, marketing and communications, and logistical help as we organize the alpha test. Help us prepare and use surveys / questionnaires to capture the alpha test feedback from participants. At the start of the project we will provide a walk-through of our prototype site and content. We will also provide a wealth of background material on the application, its use case, goals and objectives, and even detailed low-level fidelity wireframes. and other recommendations behind the proposed citizen science web application features.

Category Social media marketing + 4

Help plan a virtual design hackathon for a Citizen Scientist web app

Citizen Science Observation rules for Forest Fires

Category Website development + 4

Design Test Strategy & Plan, Test cases for a citizen science web application

Provide health & safety guidance for our flood-focused Citizen Scientist web app

The GoalWe are in the design and planning phase of a new climate change-related citizen science web prototype (related to "UN Sustainable Development Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts"). The prototype will be a mobile-friendly website that allows citizens to take and submit photos and other “ground truth” observations to the Trusted Authorities, during /after floods. This information can be used to help the authorities assess and predict the flood or disaster scope and impact.We are building a web application prototype that citizen scientists that will use to safely take and submit photos and other "ground truth" observations to the Trusted Authorities, during/after floods and other climate change-related natural disasters. Obviously we wish to ensure the health and safety of our citizen scientist observers by alerting them to potential threats to their individual safety while they take observations, and implementing appropriate safeguards. Importantly, citizen scientists do not benefit from the same labour laws or risk protection as those employed in traditional research settings.We therefore wish you to research and recommend the relevant health and safety processes that would apply to the actions of citizen scientist volunteers. These include at a minimum Ontario and Federal laws but should consider international standards and examples for other citizen science projects. Your ContributionResearch and recommend all aspects of the health and safety issues, including relevant Canadian laws and practices, liability disclaimers, and other national and international practices that are relevant to citizen science projects.At the start of the project, we will provide a walk-through of our prototype site and content. We will also provide a wealth of background material on the application, its use case, goals, and objectives, and even detailed low-level fidelity wireframes. and other recommendations behind the proposed citizen science web application features.

Category Market research + 4

Define the training requirements for citizen scientist web app users

The GoalWe are in the design and planning phase of a new climate change-related citizen science web prototype (related to "UN Sustainable Development Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts"). The prototype will be a mobile-friendly website that allows citizens to take and submit photos and other “ground truth” observations to the Trusted Authorities, during /after floods. This information can be used to help the authorities assess and predict the flood or disaster scope and impact.We intend to train "citizen scientists" (users) on safely taking and submitting flood disaster observations using our citizen science web application prototype. What is the best approach and method to conduct the training?Focus on what is relevant to themBe clear what on what objectives your citizen science tutorial is focused on achievingChoose appropriate methods to educate your target citizen scientist audience.Based on the information we'll provide, students will develop a training requirements action plan and supporting materials, which can include ready-to-use templates, processes, strategy, and high-level training design that will support the training of users (citizen scientists). The training should also focus on ensuring that citizens scientists can safely take and submit observations that are scientifically accurate/useful. This can be achieved by addressing issues such as conflict of interest and personal biases, following guides, tools, and templates that have been developed to promote research integrity from start to finish. Examples of things to consider include:The role of experiential learning in training citizen scientistsCompleted life cycle journey mapStrategy and templates which will improve training resultsInterviews and questionnaire/Quiz to assess trainee readiness and knowledgeHigh-level design of training materialsYour ContributionUse your skills and creativity in all aspects of the training requirements design process: research, analysis, iteration, presentation and evaluation. You will be able to improve our understanding of the best approach, methods, and tools to train citizen scientists/users on safely taking observations using our citizen science web application prototype. At the start of the project we will provide a walk-through of our prototype site and content. We will also provide a wealth of background material on the application, its use case, goals and objectives, and even detailed low-level fidelity wireframes. and other recommendations behind the proposed citizen science web application features.

Recommend feature & design changes to our prototype to help with forest fires

The GoalWe are in the design and planning phase of a new climate change-related citizen science web prototype (related to "UN Sustainable Development Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts"). The prototype will be a mobile-friendly website that allows citizens to take and submit photos and other “ground truth” observations to the Trusted Authorities, during /after floods. This information can be used to help the authorities assess and predict the flood or disaster scope and impact.We would like you to explore and document any recommendations and functionality/design modifications needed to extend our citizen science prototype, focused on floods, to help during a different type of disaster: Forest fires. We will provide screenshots and demos of our current flood prototype to help you understand and research any needed modifications. You should take into account the different needs of individuals or communities affected by forest fires, but while trying not to require us to change the existing prototype user interface, user experience, and customer journey too much. Create wireframes or mock-ups to represent the user interface changes that you think are needed to handle a forest fire disaster. Your ContributionYou will be able to showcase an understanding of software design that will :Identify and recommend necessary feature/design changes to make our flood-focused prototype assist during or after a forest fireCreate wireframes and mockups that show us how “citizen scientists” would use their mobile devices to (safely) conduct controlled in-situ observations during or after a forest fire disaster, that they can then upload and send to trusted authorities and data scientists.At the start of the project, we will provide a walk-through of our existing flood-focused prototype site and content. We will also provide a wealth of background material on the application, its use case, goals, and objectives, and even detailed low-level fidelity wireframes as a starting point for you.

Category UX design + 4

Citizen science badge/gamification incentives

The GoalWe are in the design and planning phase of a new climate change-related citizen science web prototype (related to "UN Sustainable Development Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts"). The prototype will be a mobile-friendly website that allows citizens to take and submit photos and other “ground truth” observations to the Trusted Authorities, during /after floods. This information can be used to help the authorities assess and predict the flood or disaster scope and impact.We are in the design and planning phase of a new citizen science prototype. In order to make it effective and easy to use, we would like to add gamification (points, badges, levels, social feedback, etc). We would like you to research gamification concepts and systems and then propose a gamification system to suit our application (ex points or badges for safely taking and sharing observations or photos during or after a flood disaster). Your work should be able to showcase:An increase in safely completed citizen climate observationsAn increase in citizen usage of the in-app action tracking and reportingAn increase in citizen contribution to community action projectsReview and recommend observations from https://scistarter.badgr.com/public/badges/6Jg_IwmfQTaJ2kUNePsO5QResearch on both intrinsic motivation (learning, developing skills, interest in environment, and social exchanges resulting in inherent satisfaction and extrinsic motivation (scoreboards and social rewards)How to ensure: - Citizens science volunteers feel that they are valued members of the team - Citizens science volunteers receive feedback and thanks and feel their work has contributed to help the community deal with the disasterYour ContributionUse your skills and creativity in all aspects of the gamification process: research, analysis, iteration, prototyping, presentation and evaluation. We would like you research the various gamification concepts, trends, issues, and solutions that are used in web apps such as FitBit, Facebook, video games, etc...then design a customized gamification system for our citizen science prototype website.At the start of the project we will provide a walk-through of our prototype site and content. We will also provide a wealth of background material on the application, its use case, goals and objectives, and even detailed low-level fidelity wireframes. and other recommendations behind the proposed citizen science web application features.

Category Graphic design + 4

Design a web/video tutorial to help Citizen Scientists use our web prototype

Category Graphic design + 4

“Trust model” for verifying citizens scientists' observations

The GoalWe are in the design and planning phase of a new climate change-related citizen science web prototype (related to "UN Sustainable Development Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts"). The prototype will be a mobile-friendly website that allows citizens to take and submit photos and other “ground truth” observations to the Trusted Authorities, during /after floods. This information can be used to help the authorities assess and predict the flood or disaster scope and impact.We are building a software prototype that allows citizens to submit photos and other "ground truth" observations to the Trusted Authorities, during/after floods. Please research and recommend a “trust model” – a set of processes that we can use in the citizen science web application defining a “veracity” or trust score to citizen scientists and their observations. This will help us determine how much oversight / weight the trusted authorities should place on citizen scientists' submitted observations. We would like assistance with defining how "Trust" can be based on whether the citizen scientist undertook certain tutorials/performed certain actions/filled in their profile/confirmed their geographic location etc.Your ContributionWe would like you research a trust model for verifying citizen contributions, so we can assign a trust rating that Trusted Authorities can apply to them.At the start of the project we will provide a walk-through of our prototype site and content. We will also provide a wealth of background material on the application, its use case, goals and objectives, and even detailed low-level fidelity wireframes. and other recommendations behind the proposed citizen science web application features. Below are suggestions to consider:Participants were required to be legal age/18 years or older to select a public username.Recommendation System to calculate trust based on the user's profile and historyEvaluate community trust – members of the network assign trust rankings to other members or users can assign rank based on the quality and consistency of uploadsRepeated interactions between those involved in citizen science, as well as perceptions of transparency, fairness, and legitimacy are important prerequisites for building or maintaining trust (Lauber, 1999; Fernandez-Gimenez et al., 2008).

Category Communications + 4

Create user guide for citizen scientists using our climate change web app

Category Product or service launch + 4