M.V. Eitzel Solera
Postdoctoral Scholar
My scholarship sits at the intersection of data science,
participatory action research, and Science and Technology Studies
(STS). This combination is relevant and timely as data science
becomes an increasingly dominant way to know about both society
and the environment we depend on. Allowing this trend to continue
without critical evaluation, especially in conservation and
natural resources science, could very easily lead to reinforcing
structural injustice and environmental degradation.
As a participatory data scientist, I work collaboratively with
communities on modeling: teaching mapping and modeling skills,
collaboratively building data representations and models, and
analyzing and synthesizing community-held data as appropriate. I
employ a variety of ecoinformatic tools to understand and improve
the sustainability of complex social-ecological systems. I am
also working to apply Science and Technology Studies to my
modeling processes in order to make social-ecological system
management more just. As part of that, I look for ways to create
space for qualitative and other forms of knowledge to reside
alongside quantitative analysis, using mixed and integrative
methods. See mveitzel.org for more details on
my current and past work.
Participatory Data Science Update
Artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data science – these terms and technologies are proliferating wildly throughout our day-to-day lives, lately. And in many cases, these tools can harm people who are already at a disadvantage. What better time, then, for Community and Citizen Science to intervene, open up these black boxes, and put the tools in the hands of the people who would be most impacted by them?
Grant from CALFIRE for participatory modeling and mapping to plan for fire resilience in Tuolumne County
April 2024 will mark the start of a four-year CALFIRE grant to the Center, on science synthesis and decision support for community fire resilience. MV Eitzel (Center Researcher) will lead the effort, with Ryan Meyer (Center Executive Director), Emily Schlickman (UC Davis Professor of Landscape Architecture & Environmental Design), and Craig Konklin (Tuolumne County Fire Safe Council).
Report: Summary of Community and Citizen Science on the Elwha River
The UC Davis Center for Community and Citizen Science team has been working with researchers on the Elwha River in Washington state for more than a year now, and we are proud to share a new report summarizing what we have learned about Community and Citizen Science on the Elwha.
UC Davis Global Affairs Grant Helps Advance Sustainable Development Goals via the work of The Muonde Trust in Zimbabwe
On March 9th, Postdoc M.V. Eitzel and Center Director Ryan Meyer (along with Pamela Reynolds from UC Davis DataLab and Sarah Mccullough from UC Davis’ Feminist Research Institute) were honored at a reception hosted by UC Davis’ Global Affairs program. Global Affairs has awarded them a grant to build on M.V.’s past work with The Muonde Trust.
Supporting expanded efforts in participatory monitoring of the Elwha River dam removal
Project Duration
2021-present
Location
Clallam County, Washington
Project Update: Supporting Community and Citizen Science at the Elwha ScienceScape Symposium
The removal of two large dams from the Elwha river in the ancestral lands of the Coast Salish peoples was the first large-scale dam removal of its kind in the world. This effort has inspired many other watershed-scale restoration projects and dam removal organizations both nationally and internationally.
Project Update: Center for Community and Citizen Science supports expanded efforts in participatory monitoring of the Elwha River dam removal
On April 18-19th, 2022, researchers from the Center joined the scientific community working on the Elwha River in Washington State to think through the potential for growing public participation in future monitoring of the largest dam removal project in the world.
