S9E3 Community and Citizen Science: Mainers Leading the Way

Today, we’ll be interviewing Linda Silka, Sarah Kirn, and Jane Disney on citizen and community science in Maine.

Dr. Linda Silka is a social and community psychologist by training, with much of her work focusing on building community-university research partnerships. She has several decades of experience in leading community-university research partnerships on environmental, economic development, and environmental health issues.

Sarah Kirn is the Participatory Science Strategist at NASA at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. Kirn leads the planning and production of a professional development series for people leading participatory research efforts, with particular focus on meeting the needs of scientists funded by NASA to conduct research using citizen science methods.

Jane Disney is currently an Associate Professor of Environmental Health at MDI Biological Laboratory. She is also the Director of the Community Environmental Health Laboratory. She is a co-developer of the citizen science online data portal, Anecdata.org.

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Transcript: https://mcspolicycenter.umaine.edu/2026/02/12/s9e1-the-nuclear-frontier-when-maine-was-the-frontline-of-the-cold-war/