The Public Laboratory for Open Technology and Science (PLOTS) is a community which uses open-source tools to generate knowledge for environmental discovery and investigation. By collectively developing and using inexpensive and accessible Do-It-Yourself techniques to gather and produce information about our environments, Public Laboratory creates a collaborative, community-driven network of practitioners who actively re-imagine the human relationship with the environment.

The core PLOTS program is focused on “civic science” in which we develop, produce, and organize open source hardware and software tools for communities to investigate, generate and share data about threats to their environment and health. Our goal is to increase the ability of individuals and communities to improve, remediate, redress and create awareness around environmental concerns. PLOTS achieves this by developing and researching tools for environmental monitoring, supporting an online and offline community of open source practitioners, providing training, education and support for communities, and assistance in creating outcomes in response to goals designed for each project.