Bi-Directional Partnership Development and Maintenance: The CEC conducts most of its initiatives using a Bi-Directional Partnership Paradigm (right) for identifying and establishing collaborations. For each relationship, the CEC:
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Identifies potential partners
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Forms a clear rationale based on answers to essential questions: Why is the SWEHSC CEC needed for the collaboration? How will the CEC assist with the project? How will this partnership promote the mission of the SWEHSC? How will this partnership build community capacity for addressing EH challenges?
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Recruits appropriate expertise from SWEHSC investigators and/or student researchers.
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Shares knowledge and chooses a mutually agreeable EH topic focus.
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Creates or adapts engagement methods, materials and resources. All CEC-produced materials are submitted to the PEPH Resource Center.
TOXIC DETECTIVES
Toxic Detectives is a week long summer camp for middle school students that exposes them to the field of Toxicology and Environmental health. The goal of this summer camp is to give students the confidence to follow a science career path as well as providing hands on activity based learning.
Southwestern Tribe of Arizona
Investigators from the University of Arizona Superfund Research Project (UA SRP) and the Southwest Environmental Health Sciences Center (SWEHSC) are partnering with an Arizona Tribe to develop an Air Quality and Asthma Project.
Collaborating with Native American Communities
The SWEHSC has a strong commitment to assisting Tribal communities in their interest in science and concern for the health of their people and their environments. The Native perspective about science and the environment is incorporated into such projects. The commitment extends to promoting the importance of including community members and leaders in the design of the research, obtaining the data and in disseminating the results. The SWEHSC is also committed to providing community education, opportunities for Native children to be trained and to have an opportunity to be able to serve their own community.
Public Health Internships
The COEC offers a number of internship opportunities, for high school students, for undergraduates, and for graduate and professional students. The focus of these projects is improvement of environmental health literacy among the general public.
KEYS
The KEYS internship provides hands-on research opportunities to talented students from diverse backgrounds. By exposing them to all facets of science research at the University of Arizona, KEYS fosters knowledge, skills, and confidence and helps students define their degree and career goals. KEYS interns enroll with no tuition costs, in the University of Arizona during their summer break for a week of intensive laboratory and science literacy training, followed by six weeks in the laboratory of a renowned UA researcher. The program concludes with the KEYS Research Showcase, where students present their results to their families, UA scientists, and program sponsors. Previous KEYS interns report that the program has changed their lives and tught them that they are capable of making important contributions to science.