Smoke Sense Demonstration at National Academies of Science Citizen Science Expo
Citation:
Hano, M. AND A. Rappold. Smoke Sense Demonstration at National Academies of Science Citizen Science Expo. National Academies’ Citizen Science Expo, Washington, District Of Columbia, November 30, 2017.
Impact/Purpose:
The purpose of this presentation is to share the EPA Smoke Sense application with members of the Committee on Designing Citizen Science to Support Learning and other Academies' staff. The focus of this presentation is to highlight the learning component of this citizen science research initiative.
Description:
Exposure to wildland fire smoke can be sudden and unexpected, last hours to weeks, and affect communities that may or may not have a public health response plan to reduce the adverse impacts of smoke exposure. EPA is continuing to advance the science and technology required to understand the impacts of smoke on air quality and public health. Combining science with communication tools can improve delivery and timing of information to inform decision making and health protective behaviors. EPA researchers are conducting a citizen science study called Smoke Sense to: 1) Determine the extent to which exposure to wildland fire smoke affects health and productivity; and 2) Develop health risk communication strategies that protect public health during smoke day. Launched as a pilot in fall of 2017, over 4000 individuals have downloaded the mobile application through the Google Play Store and App Store. In the coming year, this project is being enhanced to include instructional curriculum that can be used in the classroom. In this presentation we will share the Smoke Sense citizen science project and curriculum plans for the coming year and get feedback on leveraging citizen science to support science learning.