Funded Projects
A Collaborative Approach Preparing and Protecting At-Risk Communities from the Impacts of Climate Change in North-Central Washington
Awarded Project Overview
April 2023
Rural communities in north-central Washington are grappling with some of the most severe climate impacts, including wildfires, smoke exposure, and extreme heat. During the summer of 2021, this region endured unprecedented challenges, including heavy smoke and record-breaking temperatures. Yet, outreach and engagement with vulnerable populations on mitigating these health impacts remain limited.
This project seeks to address the communication gap around smoke exposure’s health effects.
Addressing community concerns about contamination to support wildfire-impacted communities in Lahaina
About this project:
This project will identify locations with concerning levels of contamination from the 2023 wildfire in Lahaina, Maui. We will be analyzing data we collected to identify concentrations of multiple contaminants that are above health guidelines and examining environmental samples from places in Lahaina that municipal authorities did not collect, despite requests from non-profits and residents of Lahaina. The data will be used to support cleanup and further investigation of impacted sites, as well as to address public health concerns.
Assessing Climate-Driven Zoonotic Disease Risk in Washington State
Zoonotic diseases (infections crossing between animals and humans) make up the majority of emerging infectious diseases and have been linked with socio-economic, environmental, and ecological conditions. In Washington state, diseases such as West Nile virus, valley fever, hantavirus, and leptospirosis are a significant concern. This project explores the relationships between climate conditions and these climate-sensitive disease threats to community health in Washington.
Read moreBuilding Heat Mitigation Retrofit Framework for Public K-12 Schools in Washington State
About the Project:
Heat-related deaths represent an ongoing public health concern in the US. Limiting exposure during times of extreme heat can reduce mortality. Public K-12 schools provide a place where children, the most vulnerable population, spend a lot of their time. Yet many schools in Washington State lack heat mitigation measures, such as air conditioning and reflective building materials. To protect the health of students and staff, these school buildings need to be urgently upgraded.
Catalyzing Just Circular Communities: A Feasibility Study of a Large-Scale Anaerobic Biodigester to Generate Hyper-local, Community-Owned Clean Energy Infrastructure in Seattle’s South Park
Overview:
The Just Circular Communities (JCC) collaboration aims to develop community-envisioned, owned, and managed hyper-localized circular economies for frontline communities. This project focuses on a feasibility study for a large-scale anaerobic biodigester in Seattle’s South Park neighborhood, led by the Duwamish Valley Sustainability Association (DVSA). The biodigester will convert food waste into probiotic plant food and clean energy, supporting a community-scale circular economy that reduces reliance on fossil fuels and privatized essential services.
Centering Place and Community to Address Climate Change and Social Justice
Awarded Project Overview
April 2022
About the Project:
The Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe is facing an urgent challenge: their reservation, located on one of the most rapidly eroding coastlines in the U.S., is under threat from rising sea levels, tsunamis, and land subsidence. To protect their community, the Tribe is expanding to higher-elevation lands they’ve reclaimed from timber companies, as part of their ancestral territory.
Centering Self-Determination as a Core Research Principle in a Multidisciplinary Partnership with the Akiak Native Community to Promote Climate Justice, Water Security and Indigenous Knowledge Systems
Project Update
November 2023
This project is part of a larger effort to develop a sustainable and safe source of drinking water for the ANC, located in Alaska. In our Indigenous-led, community-centered project, our team collaborated with the Akiak Native Community (ANC) to install a rainwater cistern which has been operational since summer 2022. We achieved this by incorporating research approaches such as Indigenous research methodologies, community-based participatory research (CBPR), and western science.
Characterizing Risk Communication Around Smoke Exposure in Rural and Tribal Communities in the Okanogan River Airshed Emphasis Area
2021-22 Project
Wildfires across the western United States are increasing in frequency and severity. To lessen the negative impacts of high severity wildfires on both human and forest health, fuel management strategies such as prescribed fires (Rx fires) are being utilized. Use of Rx fires results in less severe wildfires and thus less severe smoke events. However, managing fire with fire increases the frequency of smoke exposure in rural communities outside of fire season.
Clean SHiFT: Safety and Health in Food Trucks: A program for safer cleaning chemical transitions for the Food Truck industry
In the U.S., federal and state regulations dictate how businesses must clean, which drives the selection of cleaning materials in an effort to meet those regulations. Most cleaning agents impact the environment or living systems negatively. Wastewater increases nitrates and phosphates in water and soil systems, pollutes drinking systems and impacts human, plant and animal health. Traditional cleaning products are associated with both acute and chronic health problems and disproportionally affect communities of color, women, and children.
Read moreCoastlines – Camera – Action: Community-Driven Research for Adapting to Willapa Bay’s Rapidly Changing North Shore
Project Update
November 2023
Coasts – Camera – Action team members participated in the Shoalwater Bay Tribe’s Yellow Brick Road Tsunami and Health Walk. At a table along the route, Connie Allen, Community Lead, used a small scale model to demonstrate how a dynamic revetment works to take energy out of the waves so that sand can be deposited onto the beach, instead of eroded away from it.
