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In contexts of regulatory neglect, it often falls to concerned individuals and community groups to identify and reduce people’s exposure to health-threatening pollutants in urban soils. The Our Soil project, based in Troy, New York (U.S.A.) proposed that engaging people in a “do-it-together” process of scientific inquiry could cultivate both appreciation of soil’s value and urgency to protect people from toxic soil pollution. In this paper, we develop the concept of “soil publics” and use it to critically reflect on how Our Soil used participatory research methods to measure urban soil pollution, exchange and value local knowledge, and cultivate a sense of concern for soil as a public issue. Soil publics come together through collective participatory practices, such as community gardening or, in this case, citizen science. This paper argues that when citizen science is pursued with a focus on producing soil publics, it is not just a means of collecting data about soil; it is part of the process of recognising past harms and transforming human-soil relations. 

Scientific research is not value-neutral but builds on the stated and unstated values of those leading the research, influencing the choice of study topics; decisions about methods, judgments, or inferences with data; and considerations of the consequences of errors. In some fields, researchers create a positionality statement to disclose bias as a way to manage or neutralize the influence of values. Positionality refers to the way in which an individual’s worldview, and thus perceptions and research activities, is shaped by the frameworks, social identities, lived experiences, and sociopolitical context within which they live. Thinking about positionality is a valuable, yet missing, element for practitioners of participatory sciences. In this essay, we suggest that those leading participatory science projects explore their positionality, irrespective of whether or not they choose to disclose it, in order to manage values for several goals: research integrity, ethical data practices, and equity and inclusion. By reviewing and synthesizing literature, we created a tool to help leaders of participatory science projects think reflectively (for awareness of their identities and characteristics) and reflexively (from an external position for critical observation of themselves) to recognize their influence on project design and implementation. We view examining positionality as a precursor to anticipating and taking actions to minimize epistemic injustices and ultimately enhance the unique capacity of each project to advance equity, inclusion, and scientific productivity.