News — With global temperatures hitting record highs, public health interventions are needed now more than ever, especially in urban areas where there is limited access to parks and green areas, that could help mitigate high levels of heat and pollution.
Environmental health disparities expert, vice chair and associate professor of health, society, and behavior at the UC Irvine Joe C. Wen School of Population & Public Health, has been awarded nearly $654,000 for his 3-year study to understand how urban heat, air pollution, and access to greenspaces affect public health in Southeast Los Angeles.
The funding, which was awarded to only nine other projects across the country, comes from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, which previously funded Douglas’s work. The and affected residents’ spatial knowledge to advance environmental justice in Los Angeles, Calif.
For this current study, Douglas and team will work with residents of Southeast Los Angeles who face significant health and environmental issues due to their proximity to busy roads, industrial sites, and oil drilling operations.
Using advanced technology, like satellite observations and on-the-ground sensors, along with socioeconomic and health data, the researchers aim to better understand what its residents are up against as more frequent heat waves occur.
Like the previous study, Douglas and team will use a community-based participatory research approach. This method involves local community organizations to study how these environmental conditions impact health and to explore the benefits of improving access to greenspaces.
“We want to provide the residents of Southeast Los Angeles with the wherewithal and understanding of how scientific methods can be used to improve their environment. The study will also lead to the creation of a user-friendly online tool that combines community knowledge with scientific data,” Douglas said. “We want this tool to support community action and advocacy for environmental justice, helping residents, organizers, and policymakers work together to create positive change.”
A key partner in the project is the Communities for a Better Environment, a 46-year-old non-profit environmental justice organization. CBE’s mission is to build people’s power in California’s communities of color and low-income communities to achieve environmental health and justice by preventing and reducing pollution and building green, healthy and sustainable communities and environments. Investigators from CBE include Janeth Preciado Vargas, Milton Hernandez, Rossmery Zayas, Roberto Bustillo, and Ambar Rivera.
Douglas is joined by co-investigators: Joshua Fisher from Chapman University; Reginald Archer from Tennessee State University; Richard Damoah from Morgan State University; and Scott Davidoff from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
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