Building a co-created citizen science program with gardeners neighboring a superfund site: The Gardenroots case study

July 28th, 2015 | RESEARCH

A research project that is only expert-driven may ignore the role of local knowledge in research, often gives low priority to the development of a comprehensive communication strategy to engage the community, and may not deliver the results of the study to the community in an effective way. Objective: To demonstrate how a research program can respond to a community research need, establish a community-academic partnership, and build a co-created citizen science program. Methods: A place-based, community-driven project was designed where academics and community members maintained a reciprocal dialogue, and together, we: 1) defined the question for study, 2) gathered information, 3) developed hypotheses, 3) designed data collection methodologies, 4) collected environmental samples (soil, irrigation water, and vegetables), 5) interpreted data, 6) disseminated results and translated results into action, and 7) discussed results and asked new questions. Results: The co-created environmental research project produced new data and addressed an additional exposure route (consumption of vegetables grown in soils with elevated arsenic levels). Public participation in scientific research improved environmental health assessment, information transfer, and risk communication efforts. Furthermore, incorporating the community in the scientific process produced both individual learning outcomes and community-level outcomes. Conclusions: This approach illustrates the benefits of a community/academic co-created citizen-science program in addressing the complex problems that arise in communities neighboring a contaminated site. Such a project can increase the community’s involvement in risk communication and decision-making, which ultimately has the potential to help mitigate exposure and thereby reduce associated risk.

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Team Members

Univeristy of Wisconsin- Stout, Author
Monica Ramirez-Andreotta, Principal Investigator, Univeristy of Wisconsin- Stout
Mark Brusseau, Author, University of Arizona, Touson
Janick Artiola, Author, University of Arizona, Touson
Raina Maier, Author, University of Arizona, Touson
A Jay Gandolfi, Author, University of Arizona, Touson

Citation

Identifier Type: ISSN
Identifier: 1947-4989

Publication: Public Health
Volume: 7
Number: 1

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Tags

Audience: Adults | Families | General Public | Museum | ISE Professionals | Scientists
Discipline: Education and learning science | General STEM | Health and medicine | Life science
Resource Type: Peer-reviewed article | Research Products
Environment Type: Citizen Science Programs | Community Outreach Programs | Public Programs