ADVANCEMENT OF THE SCIENCE
To compensate, we expanded the 10-hr EHLR Classroom Basic Training into a 6-week vir- tual program in which Diné College faculty supervised environmental health research based on each of the five EHLR modules. In addition, 20 partners from BROWN pro- vided instruction. This approach was highly creative and kept the students engaged in Zoom classrooms for 40 hr a week. We pub- lished a commentary with our Diné College faculty partners to document the experience of converting a field-based, in-person learn- ing program into a virtual learning experi- ence (Berman et al., 2021). As a result of our training successes, in 2022 NEHA and Diné College sponsored 6 SIP interns to attend the NEHA 2022 Annual Educational Conference (AEC) & Exhibition in Spokane, Washing- ton, to participate in a 2-day, in-person EHLR Basic Training. In addition, 14 environmental health professionals attended this training.
FIGURE 1
Environmental Health and Land Reuse (EHLR) Training Summary From 2019–2022
July 2019, May 2020, June 2021: Multiweek EHLR Basic Training (ATSDR, NEHA, and BROWN Partners) June–July 2022: In-person training in EHLR Basic and Immersion (ATSDR and NEHA)
Diné College Trainings
August 2019: 2-day in-person pilot of EHLR Basic Training (ATSDR) August 2020: 2-day virtual EHLR Basic Training (ATSDR and NEHA) August 2022: 1-day in-person pilot of EHLR Immersion: Evaluating Environmental and Health Risks (ATSDR)
Tribal Lands and Environment Forum Trainings
Professionals, Students, and Community Trainings
Fall 2020: 5-week virtual EHLR Basic Training (one module per week) (ATSDR and NEHA)
Tribal Environmental Professionals Trainings
October 2020: Launch of EHLR Online Basic Training (NEHA) July 2021: 2-day virtual EHLR Classroom Basic Training (ATSDR and NEHA) July 2022: 2-day in-person EHLR Classroom Basic Training (ATSDR and NEHA)
NEHA Trainings
From 2019 through August 2023, ATSDR and NEHA trained >250 tribal environmen- tal professionals in both EHLR Classroom Basic and Immersion Trainings through the annual Tribal Lands & Environment Forum. The Institute for Tribal Environmental Pro- fessionals hosted these trainings.
Note. ATSDR = Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry; BROWN = Brownfields & Reuse Opportunity Working Network; NEHA = National Environmental Health Association.
among our participants. For example, in spring 2021, several undergraduate public health students from Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan, completed the EHLR Basic Training online as part of their required environmental seminar. In October 2022, a class of >40 undergraduate public health students at the University of Illinois Chicago completed the first module of EHLR Basic Training: Engaging With Your Com- munity. The students received certificates of completion for this module. In October and November 2022, NEHA hosted adapted portions of the EHLR Basic Training for its Environmental Health Leadership Academy, which involved 30 environmental health pro- fessionals who were primarily from local and state health agencies.
students and two Diné College faculty. As described previously, the students and one faculty member completed the prerequisite EHLR Basic Training at the 2022 NEHA AEC. We combined additional fieldwork exercises to supplement the EHLR Immersion Train- ing, including mock Phase I environmental site assessments and a community event that included a Soil Screening, Health, Outreach, and Partnership (soilSHOP) event in Navajo, New Mexico. During the soilSHOP event, ATSDR and partners used an X-ray fluorescence (XRF) handheld spectrometer to detect metals in soils (ATSDR, 2022a). The soilSHOP event provided hands-on practice with the XRF and with health education. The students also toured brownfields in Chinle and Holbrook, Arizona. For each of the three independent EHLR Immersion modules, the students completed voluntary knowledge assessments, which NEHA used for evaluation. We will discuss the evaluation in the second article of this series.
Fall 2020 Cohorts of the EHLR Basic Trainings
In 2020, 63 participants attended a virtual classroom training and 200 enrolled in the online training. ATSDR and NEHA con- ducted follow-up focused discussions with six classroom participants and five online participants. We will present the results of the focused discussions in the second article in this series. NEHA AEC Trainings ATSDR and NEHA provided the EHLR Basic Training to >20 participants virtually in July 2021 and to >20 participants in person in June 2022. We intend to continue oering annual EHLR Basic and Immersion Trainings at the AEC. Specialty Trainings We have learned that the 5-module EHLR Basic Training or its individual training mod- ules can be used for specific learning needs
EHLR Immersion Training Development
In summer 2022, ATSDR and NEHA piloted the full three modules of EHLR Immer- sion with a cohort of six Diné College SIP
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Volume 86 • Number 10
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