**Somerville is part of the [Northeast region](http://publiclab.org/wiki/northeast).**

_Image above by @liz_

Our work in Somerville is developing in partnership with [Parts and Crafts](http://partsandcrafts.org). Somerville is also home to [Sprout](http://thesprouts.org) and the Boston-area Dorkbot chapter.

The Public Lab chapter in Somerville is currently hosted out of the [p.irateship](http://p.irateship.com), a coworking and hacking space at 438 Somerville Ave -- but folks have also held events at or near Parts and Crafts (above). 

##Projects##

In Somerville, we've been interested in

* measuring vegetation health using [near-infrared cameras](/tool/near-infrared-camera)
* detecting heat leaks with cheap, DIY [thermal photography](/tool/thermal-photography), allowing for better winterization and heating bill savings
* investigating waste flows, such as where our trash goes -- with Pablo Rey from [Basurama.org](http://basurama.org)
  * check out this map of a [landfill in Saugus, MA](https://mapknitter.org/map/view/saugus-incinerator-landfill) which we made in late 2011
* improving the [DIY spectrometer](/tool/spectrometer) for investigating oil and tar contamination (mainly for use at the [Gowanus Canal](/place/new-york-city) and along the [Gulf Coast](/place/gulf-coast)

<iframe style="border:none;" width="500" height="375" src="http://archive.publiclaboratory.org/leaflet/?tms=http://archive.publiclaboratory.org/saugus/2011-10-10-massachusetts-saugus/tms/&lon=-70.98819460855&lat=42.4390999158&zoom=16"></iframe>

*Above: a kite map of the Saugus incinerator ash landfill, where most of the Boston area's trash ends up.*

We occasionally have meetups at the Pirateship, so get in touch [on the mailing list](/wiki/mailing-lists) if you're interested in participating in or organizing a local meetup.

At Parts & Crafts, we've been doing occasional workshops building [spectrometers](/tool/spectrometer), [infrared cameras](/tool/near-infrared-camera), such as the one used to take this photograph:

<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/publiclaboratory/5632931754/" title="Christmas tree and fence by publiclaboratory, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5303/5632931754_5f48d7409c.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Christmas tree and fence"></a>

###Where is the p.irateship?###

See http://where.irateship.com for a map, the photo below for the front of the building, and http://p.irateship.com for some nonsense which may or may not be useful.

<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreywarren/4929546041/" title="New HQ by jeferonix, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4122/4929546041_737aca612f.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="New HQ"></a>