Using a Citizen Science Approach to Change the Face of Environmental Public Health Research

Citizen science (CS) efforts have traditionally been associated with ecological studies and big data projects that are primarily directed by academics or agencies. Increasingly, CS is becoming part of environmental health (EH)... [ view full abstract ]

Citizen science (CS) efforts have traditionally been associated with ecological studies and big data projects that are primarily directed by academics or agencies. Increasingly, CS is becoming part of environmental health (EH) research. Community members are leading/developing their own projects or co-developing projects via community-academic partnerships to address environmental contamination, mitigate exposure, and prevent deleterious health outcomes. This symposium highlights the unique nature of CS-EH research by presenting: 1) CS programs aimed at improving exposure assessments and EH in health disparate communities, 2) How these programs transform investigations (e.g. low cost, accessible monitoring tools) and the production and sharing of results, and 3) The unique scientific and political challenges faced by CS-EH research given the potential for findings with implications for policy and industry, the difficulties of connecting CS research to regulatory action, and the challenges of establishing a relationship between an exposure and health outcomes.
In the first hour, the following presenters will discuss the importance of CS in EH, their experiences developing best practices for data generation, as well as ethical, collaborative, and justice challenges associated with EH studies:

• CS and NIEHS Partnerships for Environmental Public Health (Liam O’Fallon, Program Analyst)
• CS and Risk Communication at Hazardous Sites (Monica Ramirez-Andreotta, Environmental Scientist)
• Designing New EH Research Tools for CS (Sara Wylie, Social Scientist)
• Local Knowledge and Co-producing Data (Elizabeth Yeampierre, Lawyer, Community Activist)

In the second hour, other practitioners will give speed talks describing their CS efforts to achieve EH justice, followed by a 30 min Q&A session. This symposium will advance our current understanding of CS by introducing attendees to a new milieu in which CS approaches are implemented, connecting citizen scientists working on EH issues, sharing research collaboration practices, and exploring methods for co-generating data at hazardous wastes sites.