Grantee Research Project Results
2024 Progress Report: Advancing Community Resilience to Cumulative Climate Impacts in the Mystic River Watershed (ACRES)
EPA Grant Number: R840480Title: Advancing Community Resilience to Cumulative Climate Impacts in the Mystic River Watershed (ACRES)
Investigators: Levy, Jonathan , Scammell, Madeleine Kangsen , Lane, Kevin J , Nori-Sarma, Amrutasri A , Cesare, Nina , Fabian, M. Patricia , Milando, Chad , Spangler, Keith , Wormser, Julie , Garate, Melanie
Institution: Boston University , Mystic River Watershed Association
EPA Project Officer: Hahn, Intaek
Project Period: November 1, 2022 through May 12, 2025
Project Period Covered by this Report: November 1, 2023 through October 31,2024
Project Amount: $1,349,151
RFA: Cumulative Health Impacts at the Intersection of Climate Change, Environmental Justice, and Vulnerable Populations/Lifestages: Community-Based Research for Solutions (2021) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Watersheds , Endocrine Disruptors , Environmental Justice , Human Health
Objective:
- Community dialogues to identify concerns around climate and chemical exposures within the Mystic River Watershed, as well as generating solutions to mitigate and adapt to climate exposures and chemical stressors in the region, with a particular focus on vulnerable populations.
- Development of Mystic River watershed-wide hazardscape mapping tools at high spatial and temporal resolutions, to enable communities to plan and prepare for ongoing climate and chemical exposures.
- Epidemiologic analyses of the health outcomes associated with extreme weather and chemical exposures in the region, as well as health risk assessments / benefits analysis of solutions implemented to mitigate / adapt to these exposures.
Progress Summary:
Within our community engagement activities, we held focus group discussions with key stakeholders in the watershed and conducted a systematic review of existing municipal reports related to climate, chemicals, and health to understand what were identified by municipal leaders as community concerns. We determined that flooding and storms were the most discussed hazards, with much less mention of air pollution and fire and minimal mention of chemical hazards. We also met with our Steering Committee on a quarterly basis and engaged in strategic outreach efforts with community groups in the affected area.
In addition, we developed the key elements of a watershed-wide hazardscape mapping tool, assembling high-resolution geospatial data on chemical and climate exposures as well as population data. We then applied novel methods that characterize cumulative hazard estimates given the geographic co-occurrence of chemical and climate exposures, with consideration of causal pathways. In parallel, we finalized a high-resolution synthetic population dataset, developed using methodological refinements beyond previous applications, and demonstrated its utility with a case study on proximity to major roadways. This analysis showed evidence of substantial exposure misclassification by sociodemographic characteristics when synthetic population households were allocated to building parcels without a matching algorithm.
These geospatial databases can be linked with multi-stressor epidemiological analyses to inform cumulative health risk characterization. We made progress on epidemiological analyses by obtaining access to emergency department data across all of Massachusetts, and in parallel, investigating the mental health risks posed by extreme heat stress among vulnerable communities in the Greater Boston area.
Outward-facing products over the course of the year included multiple presentations at professional societies, papers published and under review for publication, community workshops and invited speakers, and continual updates to our data dashboard tools and website to facilitate bi-directional communications.
Thus far, the outcomes demonstrate that parcel-level population data combined with high-resolution exposure data can provide the foundation for identification of high-risk subpopulations and neighborhoods. Our work with our Steering Committee and other community partners reinforce the importance of bi-directional engagement to characterize cumulative chemical and climate impacts, with different sectors interested in utilizing different datasets and information to inform action.
Future Activities:
In Spring 2025, we will expand our community engagement with focus groups within the community, starting with individuals who work at community health centers but also including municipal leadership. We will engage in additional outreach and communication of research findings at planned community events in the watershed. We will complete our multi-stressor epidemiological analyses and will in parallel utilize the completed parcel-level synthetic population to characterize sociodemographic patterns of exposure and to link with epidemiological outputs to provide characterization of cumulative health risks. These outputs will be incorporated into data dashboards for the community, with iterative refinement to align with community interests and priorities.
Journal Articles on this Report : 1 Displayed | Download in RIS Format
| Other project views: | All 5 publications | 1 publications in selected types | All 1 journal articles |
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Levy JI, Kibilko K. Indoor air quality in multi-family housing:drivers and interventions. Current Environmental Health Reports 2025;12(1):4. |
R840480 (2024) |
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Supplemental Keywords:
Air, risk assessment, elderly, ethnic groups, cumulative effects, particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, community-based, engineering, social science, epidemiology, modeling, geographic information systems, Northeast, EPA Region 1Relevant Websites:
Advancing Community Resilience to Cumulative Climate Impacts in the Mystic River Watershed (ACRES) Exit
Progress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe 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.