Telling Stories: The Role of Science Narratives as Tools for Social Change

Stories provide the intimate details of life that individuals are willing to share, which may often go unnoticed. They shape feelings, emotions, and perceptions about given topics, as well as provide context to any given... [ view full abstract ]

Stories provide the intimate details of life that individuals are willing to share, which may often go unnoticed. They shape feelings, emotions, and perceptions about given topics, as well as provide context to any given reality. Stories give voice to thoughts and feelings that may have been overshadowed, in addition to those heard loud and often. In Tonawanda, New York, we have engaged in a qualitative research endeavor meant to collect stories from those willing to share their experiences with living among and beside air pollution and legacy industrial pollution. Creating an oral community history of living with pollution in an effort to compliment the quantitative data that supports air quality problems in the Tonawanda area. State and local officials have recognized these issues and have embarked studies that analyze data collected through community driven air testing, as well as permanent air monitoring facilities throughout the Tonawanda region. However, despite being armed with this data that shows air quality problems, including significant releases of benzene and formaldehyde, residents are frustrated with the continual denial of a public health threat to the area. This research intends to provide support for the problem in a different way. It serves to compliment the air quality numbers, so often documented through statistics, by showing how air quality impacts residents’ everyday lives. Citizens then have a toolbox approach to address their quality of life issues and build on a body of citizen science that serves to explain their everyday reality to health and other public officials.