Project Members
- Michael Hannigan (PhD., PI, Mechanical Engineering )
- Caroline Frischmon (Graduate Student, Mechanical Engineering)
Detailed Summary
Project Dates: 2023听- Present
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The Cherokee Forest neighborhood听in Pascagoula, Mississippi sits next to an industrial park housing a refinery, a shipbuilding yard, a superfund site, a gas processing plant, and more. Cherokee Concerned Citizens (CCC) was founded in the neighborhood as concern grew over the negative impacts of living next to such heavy industry. CCC educates the public on how to report odors, advocates for environmental monitoring, and conducts neighborhood health surveys. According to one survey, 97.5% of respondents had smelled industrial odors in the prior month, and 87% had experienced sinus problems. CCC has recorded 35 cases of cancer in the 120-household neighborhood.
Community concern over the health impacts of industrial air pollution听led to this project co-developed by CU Boulder鈥檚 Hannigan Air Quality (HAQ) Lab and CCC. Together we plan to amplify the community鈥檚 calls for environmental justice through air quality monitoring and data-informed storytelling. We will use the HAQ Lab鈥檚 air monitoring tool to collect air quality data in the community. As the monitors collect data, impacted residents will record any odors or air quality-related symptoms they experience.听
听We will explore any correlations between pollution spikes, resident symptoms, and odors with participants in community workshops hosted by CCC. Including participants in the analysis phase of a project can lead to more authentic outcomes through the supplementary data and lived experiences they add to the interpretation. At the workshops, we will develop our findings into stories and presentations informed by the data.
Partnering with CCC provides an opportunity to further our scholarly understanding of community air monitoring. Monitors for <$1000 recently became commercially available, allowing communities to collect their own data instead of relying on academic or government institutions. The growing availability of these monitors has created many new, underexplored opportunities to inform regulatory agencies and empower communities, including data-informed storytelling and environmental screening. Through this project, we plan to explore how the emerging, accessible power of lower-cost sensors can be best leveraged in community monitoring applications.
Other Partners
- Cherokee Concerned Citizens (Pascagoula, MS)
- Dr. Kathy Duderstadt (University of New Hampshire)
Project Funding
- University of Colorado Office of Outreach and Engagement Community Impact Grant
- American Geophysical Union Thriving Earth Exchange