ADVANCEMENT OF THE PRACTICE
Resources for Engaging in Participatory Science for Environmental Health Research TABLE 1 continued from page 35
Category
Resource
Acquire equipment
Borrow equipment • U.S. EPA Equipment Loan Programs » Information on available air and water quality monitoring equipment » Availability varies by state » https://www.epa.gov/air-sensor-toolbox/air-sensor-loan-programs • Lending libraries » Various universities loan equipment to communities
» Example: Montana State University’s Citizen Science Lending Library − https://www.montana.edu/smrc/citizen_science_lending_library.html Purchase equipment • Much equipment used in participatory science is relatively low-cost » Example: Airbeam3 air quality monitor at $249 − https://www.habitatmap.org/airbeam/buy-it-now » Example: EnviroBucket soil sampling kits from $35–$685 − https://www.csresources.org/purchase • Peruse the methods page of Public Lab for a variety of tools and equipment to build or purchase » https://publiclab.org/methods SciStarter project creator • Platform that guides the user through creating a project page to be stored on SciStarter • Well-known participatory science platform and is best for larger projects across a state or larger region • https://scistarter.org/add-project Anecdata • Platform that helps the user create project pages and associated data sheets
Manage projects and data online
• More versatile usages • https://anecdata.org Open Science Framework • Platform that allows for the easy sharing of project materials and data storage • Better for project management of a larger research team • https://osf.io
public. In addition, results must be reported back to the community (in aggregate form to protect personal identities if necessary) in real-time or in a timely manner. Engaging the public allows for education on environmental health and issues that surround it (Roche et al., 2020). Allowing community members to be part of the pro- cess, with adequate context, can help them become better aware of these issues and how to protect themselves. Along these lines, with the decline in environmental health practitio- ners (Gerding et al., 2019), there is a poten- tial connection into environmental health undergraduate and graduate programs and eventually the profession by being more vis- ible, as well as growth in interest in the envi- ronmental health field by younger people and the public (Ryan & Hall, 2022). While the benefits of participatory science in environmental health research are clear, begin- ning a project of this type can be intimidating
to both researchers and practitioners alike. Siddiqi et al. (2023) identified barriers to local health departments engaging in participatory science including inadequate stang, lack of training, and inadequate funding. There are, however, ideas and resources to overcome these. Collaboration among various commu- nity entities such as local universities, health departments, K–12 schools, public libraries, nonprofit organizations, and other public- facing institutions can reduce the burden on individual organizations to conduct this work. Table 1 provides an extensive list of resources to help overcome barriers to con- ducting participatory science projects in environmental health. Resources provided include project planning, training, funding opportunities, acquiring equipment, and managing projects and data with online plat- forms. I hope that these resources help envi- ronmental health professionals who are inter- ested in using participatory science methods
to conduct environmental health research. Our field will be better for it.
Corresponding Author: Sara Duncan, Assis- tant Professor, Environmental Health Sci- ence, Western Carolina University, HHS 426, 3971 Little Savannah Road, Cullowhee, NC 28723. Email: sduncan@wcu.edu References English, P.B., Richardson, M.J., & Garzón- Galvis, C. (2018). From crowdsourcing to extreme citizen science: Participatory research for environmental health. Annual Review of Public Health , 39 , 335–350. https://doi.o rg/10.1146/annurev-publhealth- 040617-013702 Fischer, F. (2000). Citizens, experts, and the environment. The politics of local knowledge. Duke University Press. https://www. dukeupress.edu/Citizens-Experts-and- the-Environment/
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Volume 87 • Number 1
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