About the Community Outreach & Education Core

• To promote environmental health science literacy
• To serve as a non-biased source of scientific information to the public
• To provide environmental health educational resources
• To support connections between SWEHSC investigators and the community.

Audiences

The Community groups that are reached are:

• High School students
  • Research internships with SWEHSC members
  • Environmental toxicology lessons with graduate students
• American Indian Communities
  • Environmental health information, community engagement and outreach campaigns
• Community Action Boards for Superfund and Brownfields sites
  • Education, outreach and community engagement projects
• Student pharmacists
  • Promote environmental health literacy among elementary students
  • Assist with outreach and education activities for the public

The COEC disseminates environmental health information aligned with the research themes of the SWEHSC and of interest to the target audiences: lung disease, the health effects of UV exposure, arsenic, trichloroethylene, and other chemicals.

To promote environmental health outreach with communities, the COEC:

• continues to build collaborations in American Indian communities to address environmental health concerns raised by members, community leaders, and environmental quality and public health professionals
• assesses the environmental health information needs of Arizona communities to identify topics for outreach campaigns in new areas
• collaborates with SWEHSC members to disseminate their findings to partners and community members
• collaborates with other University of Arizona and NIEHS outreach groups to improve the resources and information available to communities

To promote environmental health education, the COEC:

• identifies and disseminates environmental health education resources
• provides environmental health sciences information and expertise
• develops new environmental health materials in partnerships