RESUMO
When the Deepwater Horizon oil rig blew out in 2010, the immediate threats to productive deep water and estuarial fisheries and the region's fishing and energy economies were obvious. Less immediately obvious, but equally unsettling, were risks to human health posed by potential damage to the regional food web. This paper describes grassroots and regional efforts by the Gulf Coast Health Alliance: health risks related to the Macondo Spill Fishermen's Citizen Science Network project. Using a community-based participatory research approach and a citizen science structure, the multiyear project measured exposure to petrogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, researched the toxicity of these polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon compounds, and communicated project findings and seafood consumption guidelines throughout the region (coastal Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama). Description/analysis focuses primarily on the process of building a network of working fishermen and developing group environmental health literacy competencies.
Assuntos
Exposição Ambiental/análise , Saúde Ambiental/normas , Monitoramento Ambiental/métodos , Poluição por Petróleo/análise , Hidrocarbonetos Policíclicos Aromáticos/análise , Pesquisa Participativa Baseada na Comunidade , Comportamento Cooperativo , Desastres , Contaminação de Alimentos/análise , Golfo do México , Humanos , Relações Interinstitucionais , National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (U.S.)/organização & administração , Exposição Ocupacional/análise , Objetivos Organizacionais , Desenvolvimento de Programas , Alimentos Marinhos/análise , Estados UnidosRESUMO
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Superfund Research Program (SRP) funds university-based, multidisciplinary research on human health and environmental science and engineering with the central goals to understand how hazardous substances contribute to disease and how to prevent exposures to these environmental chemicals. This multi-disciplinary approach allows early career scientists (e.g. graduate students and postdoctoral researchers) to gain experience in problem-based, solution-oriented research and to conduct research in a highly collaborative environment. Training the next generation of environmental health scientists has been an important part of the SRP since its inception. In addition to basic research, the SRP has grown to include support of broader training experiences such as those in research translation and community engagement activities that provide opportunities to give new scientists many of the skills they will need to be successful in their field of research. Looking to the future, the SRP will continue to evolve its training component by tracking and analyzing outcomes from its trainees by using tools such as the NIEHS CareerTrac database system, by increasing opportunities for trainees interested in research that goes beyond US boundaries, and in the areas of bioinformatics and data integration. These opportunities will give them the skills needed to be competitive and successful no matter which employment sector they choose to enter after they have completed their training experience.
Assuntos
Saúde Ambiental/estatística & dados numéricos , Pesquisa Interdisciplinar/estatística & dados numéricos , National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (U.S.)/organização & administração , Ensino/organização & administração , Substâncias Perigosas/efeitos adversos , Substâncias Perigosas/toxicidade , Estados UnidosAssuntos
Política Pública/legislação & jurisprudência , Política Pública/tendências , Ciência/legislação & jurisprudência , Ciência/organização & administração , United States Government Agencies/legislação & jurisprudência , United States Government Agencies/organização & administração , National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (U.S.)/economia , National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (U.S.)/organização & administração , Pesquisa/economia , Pesquisa/legislação & jurisprudência , Pesquisa/organização & administração , Pesquisa/tendências , Ciência/economia , Ciência/tendências , Fatores de Tempo , Incerteza , Estados Unidos , United States Government Agencies/economia , United States Government Agencies/tendências , United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration/organização & administraçãoRESUMO
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences' (NIEHS) Partnerships for Environmental Public Health (PEPH) program created the Evaluation Metrics Manual as a tool to help grantees understand how to map out their programs using a logic model, and to identify measures for documenting their achievements in environmental public health research. This article provides an overview of the manual, describing how grantees and community partners contributed to the manual, and how the basic components of a logic model can be used to identify metrics. We illustrate how the approach can be implemented, using a real-world case study from the University of Texas Medical Branch, where researchers worked with community partners to develop a network to address environmental justice issues.