Informing environmental health and risk priorities through local outreach and extension

Abstract

Our society is currently facing an unprecedented number of environmental and societal challenges. Stakeholder and community engagement can help identify priority issues and needs at local levels. One approach to engage stakeholders and communities in the contexts of environmental, health, and societal challenges is to leverage outreach and extension programs. Within this context, and to help identify priority issues to focus subsequent research and extension programs in North Carolina (NC), a survey was conducted with extension agents to identify priority issues as they relate to environmental health and risks and related needs. Based on responses from 66 study participants that represented half of the 100 NC counties, we found that Water pollution, Flooding, Natural resources management, and Engaging stakeholders were top priority issues across all environmental health and risk topics. Participants also identified that practices of Engaging stakeholders as well as Assessing, Managing, and Communicating risks were increasingly important. Participants indicated they needed a moderate-to-significant amount of guidance across a range of areas related to assessing, managing, communicating, and making decisions regarding environmental health and risk topics, as well as engaging with local communities. Outcomes from this work can not only help inform subsequent research and outreach efforts at local scales, but this work demonstrates a simple, low-cost approach to elicit perspectives and priorities can be leveraged in other states and regions with established stakeholder and community outreach programs more broadly.

Professional Development in Environmental Health for Middle School Science Teachers: A Pathway to STEM-Health Integration

“…The lack of scholarship in K-12 environmental health science education, including the types of support teachers need to teach these topics, is a missed opportunity. Previous research has established the importance of preparing students with the scientific ideas and skills to recognize and evaluate health risks and hazards, and the steps to address these concerns for themselves and individuals in their community (Grieger and Cummings 2022;Morris et al 2020;Sampson 2012). Further, the prospective outlook on the environmental health job sector is favorable, suggesting that students could not only benefit from environmental health education for their personal well-being, but also that careers in this field are likely to be available in the future (Marion et al 2017).…”