Research
Part of empowering citizens is participating in research (both formal and informal) that improves experiences, validates methods, and more. We are so grateful to work with many incredible partners, who help us make sure that what we’re doing is rigorous and can be trusted.
Behaviour research
We are currently conducting formal academic research with Carleton University and McGill University on happiness, nature connectedness, values and water stewardship. Keep an eye on our social media accounts for updates on this!
Informally, we’ve been conducting research for the past few years! As we complete programs, such as this one funded by WWF-Canada and Loblaw, we usually ask our participants to fill out carefully designed questionnaires. This is so we can develop an understanding of how people’s relationships with water change as a result of testing it! So far, we’ve found that when people test the water, they end up feeling more connected to it and want to protect it as a result. This informs our “theory of change”, which says that when people learn about, and then test water, they are prompted to act to protect waterways.
Check out the impact reports which explain the results of some of our programs in greater detail!
List of behaviour research projects coming soon
Scientific accuracy
We care deeply about ensuring that the tools we build are as accurate as possible. Here’s just some of the work we’re doing to ensure that our testkits are useful!
Comparing the Water Rangers testkit to professional YSI Probes
High-level phosphorus readings using machine learning
Which test strips are the most accurate? A comparison of pH strips
Improving test strip accuracy using machine-learning
White papers we’ve contributed to
- Community-based Water Monitoring & the Federal Water Agency (Letter signatory published in 2021)
- Growing the Flow (Whitepaper published in 2020)
Academic articles that mention Water Rangers
Coming soon!
Our current research projects
2021 – 2025: Water quality in Canada: validation, interpretation, and mobilization of community-based water monitoring
Do you have a research idea you’d like to talk to us about? Contact us!