TABLE 1
Resources for Engaging in Participatory Science for Environmental Health Research
Category
Resource
Plan for projects
Association for Advancing Participatory Sciences • Learn about participatory science and find numerous resources to help with project planning • https://participatorysciences.org Citizenscience.gov: Basic Steps for Your Project Planning • Access a 5-step guide to plan your project from scope and design to sustainability • https://www.citizenscience.gov/toolkit/howto
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA): Quality Assurance Handbook and Toolkit for Participatory Science Projects • Learn about best practices for designing participatory science projects to ensure the quality of project design and subsequent data collected • https://www.epa.gov/participatory-science/quality-assurance-handbook-and-toolkit-participatory-science-projects SciStarter training modules • Free modules on various topics such as the foundations of participatory science, data literacy, and data ethics • https://scistarter.org/training EdX course by the University of Maryland Baltimore and the University System of Maryland • 15-hr course that covers an overview of participatory science, project planning, data collection and management, and communication of results • https://www.edx.org/learn/science/university-of-maryland-baltimore-citizen-science-gearing-up-for-discovery » Provides links to various federal funding opportunities for participatory science projects » https://www.epa.gov/participatory-science/funding-opportunities-participatory-science-projects Various organizations and foundations • The Association of Science and Technology Centers Community Science Initiative Funding Opportunities » Provides seed grants, stipends, and fellowships for participatory science projects » https://communityscience.astc.org/2023-funding-opportunities • The Burroughs Wellcome Fund » Provides funds for climate change, infectious disease, and science education research that can be applied to participatory Federal funding • U.S. EPA Funding Opportunities for Participatory Science Projects
Train researchers and staff
Fund projects
science projects in the environmental health field » https://www.bwfund.org/funding-opportunities • National Association of County and City Health Officials » Provides funding for county health departments to conduct projects on various topics » https://www.naccho.org/opportunities/opportunities/funding-opportunities Funding opportunity portals that allow users to search for grants using various filters • Grants.gov » All federal grant opportunities » https://www.grants.gov • Rural Health Information Hub » Various funding opportunities for environmental health projects that can be sorted by state » https://www.ruralhealthinfo.org/funding/topics/environmental-health • Justice40 Accelerator » Portal for environmental justice funding opportunities that might overlap with environmental health » https://justice40accelerator.org/funding-opportunities
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In the environmental health field, some ideas for participatory science projects include: • Using or developing an infectious disease app such as FluStar (www.flustar.com) to better understand the prevalence and extent of respiratory disease in a county.
• Installing Purple Air monitors (www2.pur pleair.com) to assess the air quality impact of wildfires or prescribed burns. •Community mapping of disease vectors such as tickMAP (https://nyticks.org/tick map) to detect an increase in tick populations.
• Establishing community well testing kits (https://ncdisaster.ces.ncsu.edu/2018/09/ free-well-water-testing-kits-available- by-request) to identify groundwater contamination. Importantly, to be participatory research, data must be collected or generated by the
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July/August 2024 • our:-l o2 :A5ro:me:?-l e-l?4
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