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](http://dorkbotboston.org).

The Public Laboratory 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). 

If you are in the Boston area, consider joining the local PLOTS mailing list and getting involved in local work and events: 

<form action="https://groups.google.com/group/plots-boston/boxsubscribe"><b>Email:</b> <input type=text name=email>   <input type=submit name="sub" value="Subscribe"></form>

##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/edit/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=17"></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>