Opinion: We need to break science out of its ivory tower - here’s one way to do this

Science doesn't work the same for everyone everywhere - there are huge disparities in access to scientific hardware, and in gender and minority representation in labs. In this piece from The Conversation , Jenny Molloy (Department of Earth Sciences) and Max Liboiron (Memorial University of Newfoundland) look at some of the initiatives around the world which are attempting to level the playing field for scientists. Without hardware, there is no science. From Hooke's microscope to the Hubble telescope, instruments are modern science's platforms for producing knowledge. But limited access to scientific tools impedes the progress and reach of science by restricting the type of people who can participate in research, favouring those who have access to well-resourced laboratories in industrial or academic institutions. Scientists in developing countries, grassroots community organisations, and citizen scientists can struggle to obtain and maintain the equipment they require to answer their own research questions. The result of this exclusion from participation is that scientific research becomes ever more elitist as a small number of people decide what the worthwhile and valid projects are.