Combining Community Engagement and Scientific Approaches in Next-Generation Monitor Siting: The Case of the Imperial County Community Air Network
Air pollution continues to be a global public health threat, and the expanding availability of small, low-cost air sensors has led to increased interest in both personal and crowd-sourced air monitoring. However, to date, few low-cost air monitoring networks have been developed with the scientific r...
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doaj-5c112e3bfa2249c59ded10ecd1b1d9e72020-11-25T00:47:10ZengMDPI AGInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health1660-46012018-03-0115352310.3390/ijerph15030523ijerph15030523Combining Community Engagement and Scientific Approaches in Next-Generation Monitor Siting: The Case of the Imperial County Community Air NetworkMichelle Wong0Esther Bejarano1Graeme Carvlin2Katie Fellows3Galatea King4Humberto Lugo5Michael Jerrett6Dan Meltzer7Amanda Northcross8Luis Olmedo9Edmund Seto10Alexa Wilkie11Paul English12California Environmental Health Tracking Program, Public Health Institute, 850 Marina Bay Parkway P-3, Richmond, CA 94804, USAComite Civico del Valle, 235 Main St, Brawley, CA 92227, USADepartment of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Chair’s Office F463, Box 357234, Seattle, WA 98195-7234, USADepartment of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Chair’s Office F463, Box 357234, Seattle, WA 98195-7234, USACalifornia Environmental Health Tracking Program, Public Health Institute, 850 Marina Bay Parkway P-3, Richmond, CA 94804, USAComite Civico del Valle, 235 Main St, Brawley, CA 92227, USAUCLA Fielding School of Public Health, University of California Los Angeles, 650 Charles E. Young Drive South, 56-070B CHS, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USACalifornia Environmental Health Tracking Program, Public Health Institute, 850 Marina Bay Parkway P-3, Richmond, CA 94804, USADepartment of Environmental and Occupational Health, George Washington University, 950 New Hampshire Ave. NW, 4th Floor, Washington, DC 20052, USAComite Civico del Valle, 235 Main St, Brawley, CA 92227, USADepartment of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Chair’s Office F463, Box 357234, Seattle, WA 98195-7234, USACalifornia Environmental Health Tracking Program, Public Health Institute, 850 Marina Bay Parkway P-3, Richmond, CA 94804, USACalifornia Department of Public Health, 850 Marina Bay Parkway P-3, Richmond, CA 94804, USAAir pollution continues to be a global public health threat, and the expanding availability of small, low-cost air sensors has led to increased interest in both personal and crowd-sourced air monitoring. However, to date, few low-cost air monitoring networks have been developed with the scientific rigor or continuity needed to conduct public health surveillance and inform policy. In Imperial County, California, near the U.S./Mexico border, we used a collaborative, community-engaged process to develop a community air monitoring network that attains the scientific rigor required for research, while also achieving community priorities. By engaging community residents in the project design, monitor siting processes, data dissemination, and other key activities, the resulting air monitoring network data are relevant, trusted, understandable, and used by community residents. Integration of spatial analysis and air monitoring best practices into the network development process ensures that the data are reliable and appropriate for use in research activities. This combined approach results in a community air monitoring network that is better able to inform community residents, support research activities, guide public policy, and improve public health. Here we detail the monitor siting process and outline the advantages and challenges of this approach.http://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/3/523air monitorscommunity air monitoringsensorscommunity-engaged researchair qualityparticulate mattercitizen science |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Michelle Wong Esther Bejarano Graeme Carvlin Katie Fellows Galatea King Humberto Lugo Michael Jerrett Dan Meltzer Amanda Northcross Luis Olmedo Edmund Seto Alexa Wilkie Paul English |
spellingShingle |
Michelle Wong Esther Bejarano Graeme Carvlin Katie Fellows Galatea King Humberto Lugo Michael Jerrett Dan Meltzer Amanda Northcross Luis Olmedo Edmund Seto Alexa Wilkie Paul English Combining Community Engagement and Scientific Approaches in Next-Generation Monitor Siting: The Case of the Imperial County Community Air Network International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health air monitors community air monitoring sensors community-engaged research air quality particulate matter citizen science |
author_facet |
Michelle Wong Esther Bejarano Graeme Carvlin Katie Fellows Galatea King Humberto Lugo Michael Jerrett Dan Meltzer Amanda Northcross Luis Olmedo Edmund Seto Alexa Wilkie Paul English |
author_sort |
Michelle Wong |
title |
Combining Community Engagement and Scientific Approaches in Next-Generation Monitor Siting: The Case of the Imperial County Community Air Network |
title_short |
Combining Community Engagement and Scientific Approaches in Next-Generation Monitor Siting: The Case of the Imperial County Community Air Network |
title_full |
Combining Community Engagement and Scientific Approaches in Next-Generation Monitor Siting: The Case of the Imperial County Community Air Network |
title_fullStr |
Combining Community Engagement and Scientific Approaches in Next-Generation Monitor Siting: The Case of the Imperial County Community Air Network |
title_full_unstemmed |
Combining Community Engagement and Scientific Approaches in Next-Generation Monitor Siting: The Case of the Imperial County Community Air Network |
title_sort |
combining community engagement and scientific approaches in next-generation monitor siting: the case of the imperial county community air network |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health |
issn |
1660-4601 |
publishDate |
2018-03-01 |
description |
Air pollution continues to be a global public health threat, and the expanding availability of small, low-cost air sensors has led to increased interest in both personal and crowd-sourced air monitoring. However, to date, few low-cost air monitoring networks have been developed with the scientific rigor or continuity needed to conduct public health surveillance and inform policy. In Imperial County, California, near the U.S./Mexico border, we used a collaborative, community-engaged process to develop a community air monitoring network that attains the scientific rigor required for research, while also achieving community priorities. By engaging community residents in the project design, monitor siting processes, data dissemination, and other key activities, the resulting air monitoring network data are relevant, trusted, understandable, and used by community residents. Integration of spatial analysis and air monitoring best practices into the network development process ensures that the data are reliable and appropriate for use in research activities. This combined approach results in a community air monitoring network that is better able to inform community residents, support research activities, guide public policy, and improve public health. Here we detail the monitor siting process and outline the advantages and challenges of this approach. |
topic |
air monitors community air monitoring sensors community-engaged research air quality particulate matter citizen science |
url |
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/3/523 |
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