Community Engagement Core

University Of Michigan At Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor MI

Investigators

Linked publications, trials & patents

Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY: COMMUNITY ENAGEMENT CORE The Center’s Community Engagement Core (CEC) will use a multifaceted approach to engage stakeholders to change behavior, inform management decisions, and identify policies that could be proposed to address the effects of cyanobacterial Harmful Algal Blooms (cHABs) on human health in the Great Lakes region. The CEC will (1) strengthen environmental literacy, (2) disseminate and implement scientific research findings, and (3) both identify and address research gaps by engaging with key and stakeholders (e.g., decision makers, agency staff, students, local business, media personnel, watershed residents). The Center’s goal is not only to understand cHABs risk more thoroughly, but via the CEC to (1) prevent future issues by informing management and policy levers and (2) reducing or eliminating harm by engaging with individuals that have increased risk of exposure to cHABs. This engagement approach will be guided by Sea Grant leaders, who have years of experience designing and deploying informal outreach and formal education programming that help resource managers (1) use ecosystem-based approaches to manage land, water and living resources in coastal areas; (2) implement sustainable economic and environmental development practices and policies; (3) implement hazard resiliency practices to prepare for, respond to, or minimize coastal hazardous events; and (4) develop outreach products and tools that advance environmental literacy and workforce development. The CEC will leverage the Center’s research enterprise to recruit and train the next-generation of OHH scientists via the numerous NSF programs, fellowship programs, and hands-on “camp” experiences for high school students supported at members’ respective institutions. The CEC will promote the dissemination of cHAB research to the general public and enhance scientific writing by engaging with media partners and journalism departments at select member institutions. CEC, working with the University of Toledo’s Environmental, Occupational, and Community Medicine Program, will (1) facilitate community and stakeholder involvement in clinical and translational research and (2) identify environmental factors that contribute to poor health outcomes. Finally, the CEC will leverage established outreach relationships with the Lake Erie Charter Boat Captains Association and the U.S. Coast Guard to engage key stakeholder groups with findings from the Center’s cHAB research. These efforts will facilitate the translation of scientific insights into actionable guidance, supporting behavior change and informing management strategies and policy decisions related to harmful algal bloom risks.