Grantee Research Project Results

2022 Progress Report: Smoke-ready communities, Creating and sustaining air quality information using targeted communication interventions

EPA Grant Number: R840363
Title: Smoke-ready communities, Creating and sustaining air quality information using targeted communication interventions
Investigators: Fischer, Emily , Pierce, Jeffrey , Magzamen, Sheryl , Anderson, Ashley A , Abrams, Katie , Ford, Bonne
Institution: Colorado State University
EPA Project Officer: Chung, Serena
Project Period: March 1, 2022 through April 24, 2025
Project Period Covered by this Report: March 1, 2022 through February 28,2023
Project Amount: $992,464
RFA: Interventions and Communication Strategies to Reduce Health Risks of Wildland Fire Smoke Exposures (2021) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Watersheds , Endocrine Disruptors , Environmental Engineering , Early Career Awards , Air Quality and Air Toxics , Wildfires

Objective:

Expand, quantify, and disseminate real-time sub-city-scale smoke concentrations to support accurate and actionable communication about air quality.
Enhance capability of communities to provide and effectively disseminate more accurate and relevant information about air quality during smoke events.
Use our monitoring and communication strategies to develop awareness, cognitive, and behavioral outcomes that lead to more smoke-ready communities.

Progress Summary:

We installed additional lower-cost monitors for fine particulate matter around Larimer County to provide additional observations in under-monitored areas including parks and natural areas. Two sites for additional ozone monitoring in summer 2023 have been chosen in conjunction with the City of Fort Collins and Larimer County. We developed the code necessary to create interpolated maps of real-time air quality based on both regulatory and low-cost monitors.

Through meetings with local government employees in our testbed communities, we have identified two populations who are susceptible to poor air quality exposure during smoke events, but with whom it has also been difficult to effectively communicate. Our first testbed community is outdoor workers in the City of Fort Collins. We conducted in-depth interviews with supervisors/managers and focus groups with employees in the Parks and Natural Areas Department during summer 2022. From these interviews, we designed an approach for a communication campaign for outdoor workers that will be deployed in summer 2023. Our second testbed community is residents of manufactured/mobile home parks in Boulder County We have created outreach presentations and held informal meetings with residents in three manufactured home communities. Our formal interviews will begin in summer 2023, from which we will then design our communication intervention strategy for this community to be piloted in summer 2024.

Future Activities:

We are launching our communication campaign with outdoor workers in the City of Fort Collins over summer 2023. We will conduct pre- and post-test surveys to assess the efficacy of the campaign. We will deploy two 2BTech ozone instruments this summer and additional PurpleAir monitors. We will release new air quality maps for the City of Fort Collins and develop push messaging strategies related to the measurement data and air quality forecasts.

Our formal interviews with residents of manufactured home communities in Boulder County will begin in summer 2023. The information from these interviews will inform the communication intervention strategy for this community to be piloted in summer 2024.

Journal Articles:

No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 8 publications for this project

Supplemental Keywords:

wildfires, smoke, health, community assets, communication, low-cost monitoring

Relevant Websites:

N/A

Progress and Final Reports:

Original Abstract

The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.