Recent calls for more discussion about “public geographies” highlight the need to understand the epistemologies and methodologies that shape the production of public geographic knowledge. Feminist theory and participatory and activist research methodologies have been used to provide a framework for undertaking the work of the public through research and practice. While engaging in our own public geographies, however, we realized some epistemological and methodological tensions in these frameworks. In this article we draw on Haraway's (1988) critique of the “god trick” to interrogate these frameworks and propose new ways of positioning ourselves within the research context, which we call “service” research.