3+Field+Sites

 My field sites are not sites in the traditional understanding. None of my sites are, in fact, geographically delimited. Rather, each site is represented by a particular technological interface around which revolves a distributed network of practice. In this sense, my sites are somewhat analogous to Benedict Anderson's imagined communities in that they are defined through collective practice as opposed to geographical limits.

__**Plone**__  Plone is an online content management system utilized to organize information in cyberspace. As such, it models spaces of communication and collaboration and permits an understanding of the ways in which technology enables or disables knowledge circulation across various technologically mediated spaces. Some possible geographical locations where ethnographic research can be conducted include RPI through Kim Fortun's Asthma Files project, as well as Houston, where a large contingent of Plone users and developers are located. Other possible geographical field sites include Plone conferences held across the United States.

__**AutoCAD**__  AutoCAD is a popular computer assisted design software used in engineering and design education as well as professional engineering and design practice. As such, it models processes of technological creation and innovation and permits an understanding of how such models impact the personal and professional formation of its users. Some possible geographical locations where ethnographic research can be conducted include RPI through the engineering school as well as through the STS Department's PDI program.

__**CMAQ**__  CMAQ (**C**ommunity **M**ultiscale **A**ir **Q**uality Modeling System) is an environmental data modeling software that allows air quality to be modeled and analyzed. As such, it models current and future representations of the environment, both in 'natural' and 'technological' terms. As such, it allows an understanding of the ways in which cross-disciplinary (climatology vs chemistry, for example) communication and collaboration is enabled and disabled when using particular technological interfaces. Some possible geographical locations where ethnographic fieldwork can be conducted include the EPA as well as Houston (through Barry Lefer).