The Commons of Conservation Technology? Examining the Social Dimensions of an Open Source Insect Monitor

Abstract

1. With increased calls for open science practices in wildlife conservation and ecological research, open source technologies (e.g., acoustic monitors, environmental sensors, and satellite tags) are emerging in the field. In this article, we describe the social and ecological dimensions of open source conservation technologies by analysing how they embody relationships among people, technologies, and nature through the sharing of common resources.

2. Using multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork, we studied how the Mothbox, an open source nocturnal insect monitor, is used in restoration projects in Panama and at an international conference on digital technologies for field biology in Indonesia. This research adopted a descriptive and interpretive approach, drawing on participant observation, interviews, and the lead author's experience fabricating open source instruments for ecological research.

3. By analysing the Mothbox project as a network, rather than a static technical object, we identified relationships among technologists, researchers, hobbyists, community organisers, communities of practice, development methodologies, and environmental conditions that were crucial to the establishment and continuation of the open source project.

4. We discuss how material practices rooted in observational data collection, shared customs and norms from the hacker movement, and the Mothbox's open source design negotiate power and govern resource exchange within the network. The intermingling of these material, craft, and social practices produces a moral economy in which knowledge, skills and physical goods are circulated as both commodities and gifts. We demonstrate how nuanced gift-commodity exchanges mediate relationships within the network and support the collective governance of shared resources as the commons.

5. Based on our empirical analysis, we argue that the methods of field biologists, the social practices of hackers, and the open source design of the device sustain the commons in the Mothbox network. These research findings broaden our understanding of how open source and “common” technologies for ecological research are developed and used. Furthermore, we posit that examining technical objects in conservation projects allows for critical analysis of social and technical relations in ecological research.