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Irish EPA and An Taisce Launch GLOBE Citizen Science Initiative in Ireland

Oct 23, 2017

Cork, Ireland

Laura Burke, Director General of Ireland’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), recently announced that the EPA and An Taisce (an independent charity that works to preserve and protect Ireland’s natural and built heritage) will work together to launch a new GLOBE citizen science initiative. The initiatve is designed to monitor air quality and contribute to ongoing research with scientists in measuring levels of air pollution in Ireland.

In a keynote address at the 13th Annual Environment Ireland Conference, Burke stated that the EPA is focused on advancing the agency’s scope of work. She said that the GLOBE initiative illustrates how citizens can be engaged with environmental issues, help address the impacts of climate change, and contribute to the betterment of society.

“The initial focus of The GLOBE Program in Ireland will be on air and will involve a pilot program in a number of primary, secondary, urban and rural schools in Ireland, and then will be rolled out to other schools throughout the country,” Burke said in an article published by the EPA on 28 September. (To read the article, click here.) The EPA will oversee the research with An Taisce.

“A key strategic priority for the EPA in the coming years is to work with others to advance citizen science initiatives, particularly in air quality, water quality and in sustainable behaviors,” Burke said. “We see significant opportunities and benefits in closing the loop where the very citizens to whom we have been delivering information become active participants in co-creating environmental data, particularly within their local communities.”

At the conference, the Director Environmental Education Unit of An Taisce, Michael-John O’Mahony, said. “The Environmental Education Unit of An Taisce is delighted to bring the hugely successful GLOBE Program to Ireland in partnership with the EPA. GLOBE will give teachers and students across Ireland the skills, training, and support to engage in meaningful scientific investigations about their local environment and to put this in a global perspective.”