Public Lab is an open community -- you're welcome to simply  and start contributing in a variety of ways. If you are interested in a more formal collaboration, just ask staff@publiclab.org.

For an overview, click through the links in the "Get Involved" dropdown menu (at the top of this page): 

[![Screen_Shot_2017-12-11_at_2.42.12_PM.png](https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/022/892/large/Screen_Shot_2017-12-11_at_2.42.12_PM.png)](https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/022/892/original/Screen_Shot_2017-12-11_at_2.42.12_PM.png)

###Some ways to be a part of the community:

* email to say hello, describe your interests, and offer your skills to existing projects
* ask for help with a public science issue and reach out for collaborators
* [sign up](/signup) for an account on the website to ask and answer questions, comment on others' work, and post your own. 
* connect with or organize a [local group](/places) to investigate environmental, social, and other issues in a participatory way
* post a research note describing the starting point of, or developments in, your project
* contribute to better [documentation](/wiki/guides) (tutorials, diagrams, even just offering critique) of the [tools](/tools) we all use

###More ways to be part of the community:

* co-author [articles & papers](/media) (in research journals, newspaper op-eds, magazines, etc) with other community members
* co-author grants for research and for working with specific communities
* adopt and add to curriculum (mainly the [mapping curriculum](/wiki/mapping-curriculum) at this point) in universities, schools, and public workshops -- use some of our resources and add your own. Also see the [guides](/wiki/guides) we're starting to develop for our tools.
* translate [guides](/guides#Translations) into your favorite language

###Areas we need specific help in:###

* organizing meetups with residents in our [partner communities](/places) to test new tools and gather data with proven ones
* developing better and more comprehensive documentation & tutorials around our existing tools
* archiving and publishing consistent data sets (from spreadsheets and geotiffs to interviews with community members)
* outreach to research, policy, and legal institutions (Environmental Law Clinics, for example) to get our data adopted and used for advocacy outcomes