The School of Geography & Development Presents:

Building a Culture of Health in the Green: Gardens as Hubs for Citizen Science and

Environmental Health LiteracyDr. Monica Ramirez-Andreotta

Environmental health is a persistent concern for many neighborhoods, particularly those in underserved areas. Across America, one’s zip code can be more important than their genetic code. Using an environmental justice and research translation framework, this presentation will use two examples - Gardenroots: A Citizen Science Garden Project and the Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability Promotora Science Project to discuss community engaged research methods, how to address the complex problems that arise in communities neighboring contamination, and the results from democratizing science. To date, only a limited number of co-created citizen science projects where community members are involved in most/all steps of the scientific process have been initiated in underserved areas, and even less in conjunction with risk communication. Based upon an extensive mixed-methods evaluation process, these projects are: 1) co-producing environmental monitoring, exposure assessment, and risk data in a form that is directly relevant to the participant's lives, 2) increasing the community’s engagement in environmental decision-making, and 3) improving environmental education and literacy (e.g. individual learning and social-ecological outcomes) in historically underserved and rural communities.

Friday, September 23rd - 3:30 pm Refreshments starting at 3:00pm

ENR2 Building, Room S230