01 / Contract Profile

80NSSC25K7035 Federal Contract Award

Agency code 8000

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH A COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATION LEADING THE ADVANCEMENT OF COMMUNITY ACTION FOR EQUITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE IN UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES, OUR PROPOSED 3-YEAR STUDY SEEKS TO EXAMINE THE PUBLIC HEALTH IMPACTS OF URBAN HEAT ISLAND-, AIR POLLUTION-, AND GREENSPACE-RELATED INEQUITIES IN THE SOUTHEAST LOS ANGELES (SELA) COMMUNITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. SELA IS A LARGE, UNDERSERVED, HEALTH-POOR, ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE COMMUNITY OF COLOR IMMERSED IN A WEB OF SHIPPING, INDUSTRIAL, OIL DRILLING, AND HIGH ROADWAY TRAFFIC DENSITY ZONES. AS A RESULT, SELA RESIDENTS EXPERIENCE AN UNEVEN BURDEN OF URBAN HEAT AND MOBILE AND STATIONARY SOURCES OF AIR POLLUTION. FURTHER, INEQUITABLE ACCESS TO GREENSPACES THAT MITIGATE URBAN HEAT AND AIR POLLUTION IMPACTS (E.G., PUBLIC PARKS, OPEN SPACES, TREETOP CANOPY) MAY EXACERBATE POOR HEALTH OUTCOMES IN SELA. ACCORDINGLY, OUR COMMUNITY-BASED PARTICIPATORY RESEARCH (CBPR) WILL UTILIZE EARTH OBSERVATIONS (E.G., ECOSTRESS, LANDSAT, SENTINEL-2), SOCIOECONOMIC AND HEALTH DATA, PARTICIPATORY GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS, AND PHOTOVOICE PAIRED WITH GROUND-LEVEL SURFACE TEMPERATURE AND AIR QUALITY MONITORING TO EXAMINE (1) THE PUBLIC HEALTH IMPACTS OF LOCALIZED URBAN HEAT ISLANDS AND AIR POLLUTANTS AND (2) THE EXTENT TO WHICH ACCESS TO URBAN PUBLIC PARKS, OPEN SPACES, AND TREETOP CANOPY (I.E., GREENSPACE) MAY SERVE TO MITIGATE URBAN HEAT ISLAND- AND AIR POLLUTION-RELATED HEALTH IMPACTS. FURTHER, OUR STUDY WILL EMPOWER SELA RESIDENTS TO TAKE ACTION BY PROVIDING (A) RIGOROUS TRAINING IN THE SCIENTIFIC METHODS UTILIZED IN THIS STUDY AND (B) A GIS-ENABLED TOOL EMPIRICALLY VERIFIED FOR USABILITY AND UTILITY BY MERGING CBPR AND NASA-BASED UI/UX HUMAN-CENTERED DESIGN IN PARTNERSHIP WITH SELA RESIDENTS AND COMMUNITY ORGANIZERS, AND PUBLIC OFFICIALS. THIS WILL RESULT IN A LAY-ACCESSIBLE, GIS-ENABLED DASHBOARD THAT HOUSES THE DATA AND INFORMATION NECESSARY TO ADVANCE COMMUNITY ACTION FOR ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE THROUGH COMMUNITY-ACADEMIC PARTNERSHIPS, COORDINATED ADVOCACY EFFORTS, AND POLICY CHANGE.