> We're so happy to meet you! This page is to welcome newcomers.

For people first encountering Public Lab, there are a lot of unknowns about how our community is organized, how we collaborate, our culture, and the personal relationships that fuel our work.  

Our community aspires to be a respectful place. Please read and abide by our Code of Conduct.

### Who is Public Lab?

We're an open community and network that anyone can join, including you! 

We especially welcome people concerned with local environmental problems, but we need all kinds of people. This is a collaborative research effort including activists, makers, scientists, technologists, curious people and assorted hybrids of all of the above. 

We are hosted by [a non-profit](/about) with a paid [staff](/plots-staff), but our community work wouldn't be possible without [our network of organizers](/organizers).

Together, we try to understand and address environmental problems that affect people, with inexpensive and accessible "Do-It-Yourself" techniques. 

> But it only works if we all share our ideas and innovations! 

<a class="btn btn-primary btn-lg" href="/signup">Sign up now</a>


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## Benefits

* a community of diverse and helpful fellow researchers to ask for support and advice -- by signing up on the website you may join several relevant mailing lists
* a growing body of open source research and resources to leverage in your work
* you may use, reuse, adapt, improve, and distribute any Public Lab research without even asking permission! (Find out how at http://publiclab.org/licenses)
* a place to publish your own work and to build a body of research online 


## Responsibilities

* to share what you do with the rest of the research community (through our mailing list and website: http://publiclab.org) 
* to help others leverage your and Public Lab's research and resources
* to cite our community (which you're now part of) when presenting or publishing your work, if you based it on or drew ideas from the Public Lab research community.



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### Welcome Committee

The Welcome committee was created to do just that -- welcome people first encountering Public Lab, and provide a personal connection for explaining our culture, ethics, digital infrastructure, and organizational structure. 

[people:welcome]


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## How to use this website

...

[Read more here](/website-basics) about how to use the website.

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