App that tracks pollution incidents developed by Indigenous-led U of T technoscience lab: Toronto Star

U of T News

App that tracks pollution incidents developed by Indigenous-led U of T technoscience lab: Toronto Star

Technoscience Research Unit members Reena Shadaan, Kristen Box, Ladan Siad, Michelle Murphy and Vanessa Gray

From left to right: Reena Shadaan, Kristen Bos, Ladan Siad, Michelle Murphy and Vanessa Gray (photo courtesy of Technoscience Research Unit)

Published: October 21, 2019

An app developed by the University of Toronto’s Technoscience Research Unit (TRU) will track and report pollution from oil and chemical industries near Aamjiwnaang First Nation in southwestern Ontario.

The Toronto Star explores the origins of the Pollution Reporter app, a project led by TRU researcher Vanessa Gray and her sibling. Users of the app can fill out pollution reports in real time and send the information by email to the provincial environment ministry.

“The need for the app is crucial and the lack of (public pollution) information is allowing industries to get away with more than what we really know here on the ground,” said Gray, 27, a grassroots organizer and educator from Aamjiwnaang.

The is a cross-faculty research unit that takes social justice approaches to science and technology studies. It was created by Michelle Murphy, a professor of history and women and gender studies who is Métis.