Data apprentice sought.

I’m going to try an experiment, but I can’t do it alone. I believe this is a chance to have a horizon-expanding experience that makes a meaningful impact on climate change.  Maybe this is of interest to you – or maybe you know someone it would be a good fit for.

Goal: to help increase the capacity & impact of people working on climate change by building, sharing, and teaching how to use a collection of online research tools for ongoing learning and topic tracking. I believe that access to great streams of knowledge can help people make a bigger impact on the world. We’re going to build and share some streams regarding climate work.

What I’m looking for:

You:

• Want to make an impact on climate change
• Can do 5-10 hours of work per week, for the next 3 months. Update: Originally I said this was unpaid, but I’m going to find a way to offer some payment for help with this. I got some good feedback that more people would be available to help if this wasn’t unpaid work. Let’s talk about it.
• Want to expand your exposure to what people around the world are doing about climate change now
• Want to learn how to use leading-edge systems for online research by helping assemble them for others
• Love to learn how to do new things
• Feel comfortable making judgement calls on the quality of information sources
• Can help with organizing an online workshop

Work includes:

• Source discovery: Validate, clean up, and expand lists of the best sources of information (blogs, news sites, Twitter accounts) regarding greenhouse gas emission reduction, using a combination of automated tools, existing research practices, your creativity, and patience
• Information organization: Organize those sources of information inside of tools to maximize their usefulness (RSS feeds, Google Custom Search, Twitter Lists)
• Story capture: help build a collection of short stories of successful projects that made a big impact on greenhouse gas emissions reduction.
• Event planning: Assist with planning, promotion, and production of a series of 3 weekend workshops introducing people to the climate knowledge tools we create and showing how to use them. (I’ll lead the workshops but I need your help making them happen.)

About Me:

• I’m a longtime, self-educated, professional online researcher
• I used to be a NYTimes-syndicated journalist. The tools we’ll be building together are rooted in my journalism experience.
• I have also been an investor-backed startup founder, political organizer, tofu manufacturer, and convenience store clerk. Today I am a VP at the world’s leading software provider for customer experience management and social media listening.
• I have become a good manager and mentor. It was hard.
• I have a strong commitment to social justice, including and beyond climate issues.
• I love my day job and don’t have much time outside it. That’s why I need your help.

When: Starting ASAP, target date for first workshop is early January, second in early February. There’s no time like the present! Let’s get started!

How:

• How we’ll collaborate: Outside of 8:00-5:00 PST (before and after my work day), we’ll use chat, video calls, and project management by spreadsheet
• How to get in contact with me: Please email me at marshall@marshallk.com with the subject line: climate research volunteer. Tell me about yourself and your interest in the project.

I look forward to hearing from you!