Communities living nearby oil and gas development risk exposure to the rotten egg-smelling and neurotoxic gas hydrogen sulfide, H₂S, but often lack tools to measure it. In response, Northeastern University’s Wylie Lab has developed a Do-It-Yourself photographer tool to visualize and measure H₂S concentrations. This talk discusses the process of making this tool scientifically valid and civically valid, in other words, useful and accessible to the communities affected by oil and gas emissions.

This report represents the first-ever cross-country assessment measuring how environmental governance functions in practice in ten countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Jamaica, Peru, and Uruguay. The report draws from surveys to in-country practitioners, building on the Qualified Respondents Questionnaire (QRQ) methodology developed by the WJP for its flagship WJP Rule of Law Index ®. It gathers timely information on a range of topics—such as the strength of regulatory enforcement, transparency in environmental decision-making, and the institutional capacity of environmental authorities—from experts who frequently interact with state institutions and environmental agencies.