cross the country, the shale boom has given rise to fears about whether oil and gas development might be polluting the water we drink and the air we breathe. This has led some residents to try doing their own field research, in the mode of “citizen science.”

According to a six-year fatal occupational injuries census conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, oil and gas workers in the Gulf countries could be up to seven times more likely to be fatally injured than workers in other industry sectors.