Superfund Research Program
Outreach and Community Engagement - February 21, 2023
Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) SRP Center adapted an existing environmental justice index to characterize toxic metals from North Carolina drinking water wells.
Outreach and Community Engagement - February 6, 2023
Short, fun science videos produced by SRP trainees as part of a competition made their big-screen debut at the SRP Annual Meeting, held December 14-16 in Raleigh, North Carolina. SRP hosted the contest to encourage early-career researchers’ science communication efforts.
Outreach and Community Engagement - January 1, 2023
NIEHS Superfund Research Program (SRP)-funded grantees organized a workshop to discusses ways to reduce human exposure to toxic elements in food. Sponsored by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) the event focused on several themes: toxic element uptake and accumulation in plants; metal-soil interactions and cleanup; and food production and processing.
Outreach and Community Engagement - January 1, 2023
Strategies to move environmental cleanup technologies from research and development to the field headlined the agenda of the first in-person Federal Remediation Technologies Roundtable (FRTR) meeting in three years. The event brought together leaders from 10 federal agencies, including NIEHS, to discuss how they can collaborate to meet hazardous waste contamination cleanup goals and emerging needs.
Outreach and Community Engagement - January 1, 2023
The NIEHS Superfund Research Program (SRP) marked its 35th anniversary December 14-17, 2022, at its first in-person annual meeting since 2019. Researchers, trainees, and community partners from across the U.S. gathered in Raleigh, North Carolina, to learn about select SRP-funded projects through workshops and presentations.
Outreach and Community Engagement - December 7, 2022
Community stories about pollution were found to overlap the locations of a burn facility s smoke plume, helping SRP-funded scientists improve their exposure assessment technique.
Outreach and Community Engagement - December 1, 2022
Rick Woychik, Ph.D., director of NIEHS and the National Toxicology Program, traveled to Texas A&M University (TAMU) SRP Center October 27-28 for an event celebrating the renewal of TAMU’s SRP Center P42 grant.
Outreach and Community Engagement - December 1, 2022
During the last two sessions of the three-part SRP Climate Change and Health webinar series. researchers discussed how climate change can potentially increase exposures to health hazards, as well as what they are doing to tackle this complex challenge. Topics covered include harzadous exposures related to hurricanes, wildfires, and melting permafrost.
Outreach and Community Engagement - November 3, 2022
University of Kentucky (UK) Superfund Research Program (SRP) Center staff are teaching Kentucky residents to educate their communities about good nutrition and environmental stewardship. Staff members recently led two train-the-trainer events introducing tools and curricula for teaching adults and children.
Outreach and Community Engagement - November 1, 2022
The 19th International Conference of the Pacific Basin Consortium for Environment and Health, held Aug. 29 to Sept. 1 on Jeju Island, South Korea, brought together global experts to discuss advancing environmental health and translating scientific knowledge to action under a changing climate.
Outreach and Community Engagement - August 24, 2022
SRP Director William Suk, Ph.D., and Health Scientist Administrator Heather Henry, Ph.D., reflected on 35 years of SRP during a conversation with NIEHS Director Rick Woychik, Ph.D.
Outreach and Community Engagement - August 17, 2022
Elizabeth Shapiro-Garza, Ph.D., director of the Community Engagement Core at the Duke University SRP Center , and Veronica Carter, with the North Carolina Coastal Federation discuss the “Stop, Check, Enjoy!,” campaign in an NIEHS podcast.
Outreach and Community Engagement - July 18, 2022
Researchers across three SRP-funded universities and their stakeholders organized the North Carolina Fish Forum in 2019.
Outreach and Community Engagement - July 11, 2022
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) were front and center during the 3rd National PFAS Meeting in Wilmington, North Carolina.
Outreach and Community Engagement - June 17, 2022
NIEHS Superfund Research Program (SRP) grantees developed publicly available courses to help their trainees and the broader environmental health sciences research community develop data science skills.
Outreach and Community Engagement - March 9, 2022
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, NIEHS Superfund Research Program (SRP) teams have shown resourcefulness, updating existing projects and pursuing new research to address environmental health needs.
Outreach and Community Engagement - March 1, 2022
A new online educational resource invites high school students to examine ways that humans are exposed to arsenic and how exposure might influence susceptibility to COVID-19 infection. The tool was developed by the NIEHS Superfund Research Program (SRP) Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC).
Outreach and Community Engagement - March 1, 2022
During her Feb. 14 NIEHS Keystone Science Lecture, Monica Ramirez-Andreotta, Ph.D., shared the numerous ways she works with communities to integrate their priorities into environmental health sciences research. The University of Arizona SRP Center researcher directs Gardenroots and Project Harvest, which are citizen science initiatives that engage community members about the health of their soil, water, and plants.
Outreach and Community Engagement - January 28, 2022
New fish consumption advisories in North Carolina were developed using data collected through the NIEHS Superfund SRP Center at Duke University. The goal is to better protect the health of people who collect and eat fish from the Cape Fear River.
Outreach and Community Engagement - November 4, 2021
Approximately 500,000 Native Americans live within three miles of a Superfund site. The NIEHS Superfund Research Program (SRP) has long supported community-engaged research with Native American communities to identify strategies to reduce exposures and protect their health. To celebrate Native American Heritage Month, this article recognizes how some SRP researchers address community concerns in Tribal lands.
Outreach and Community Engagement - October 21, 2021
Researchers at the NIEHS Superfund Research Program (SRP)-funded Center at Dartmouth College and collaborators quickly identified challenges and realistic solutions for their citizen science project, All About Arsenic, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Outreach and Community Engagement - September 28, 2021
NIEHS-funded Brown University Superfund Research Program (SRP) Center researchers and Narragansett Tribal leaders, long-time partners in community activities, joined forces again. Through their collaboration, they are educating and empowering Tribal members to address their environmental health concerns in a way that connects cultural and scientific knowledge.
Outreach and Community Engagement - September 2, 2021
Involving the community is valuable when adjusting clinical and public health guidance, especially as it relates to the health effects of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and other chemicals of concern.
Outreach and Community Engagement - August 19, 2021
NIEHS Superfund Research Program (SRP) trainees from institutions across the Southeastern U.S. gathered virtually for a two-day event, Aug. 2 and 4, to discuss best practices for partnering with communities vulnerable to environmental exposures. The event was organized by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), North Carolina State University, Duke University, University of Kentucky (UK), University of Louisville, and University of Alabama at Birmingham SRP centers.
Outreach and Community Engagement - August 5, 2021
Researchers from the NIEHS-funded University of Washington (UW) Superfund Research Program (SRP) Center found new evidence that environmental contamination from a former smelter in Ruston, Washington may pose a threat to human health in surrounding areas. Before publishing the results, the team reached out to coordinate risk communication strategies with agency partners and share the findings with potentially affected communities.
Outreach and Community Engagement - June 9, 2021
Researchers funded by the NIEHS Superfund Research Program (SRP) have been in the spotlight recently for their work on environmental justice (EJ). From being selected for prestigious committees to supporting webinar series, SRP grantees and their partners are addressing the challenges and complexities of EJ.
Outreach and Community Engagement - December 9, 2020
The NIEHS Superfund Research Program (SRP) provided supplemental funding to four centers to expand the focus of their research to address critical knowledge gaps related to exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus and its disease, COVID-19. In response to the evolving nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, this funding encourages SRP researchers to address the public health crisis and its disparate effects on vulnerable populations.
Outreach and Community Engagement - July 2, 2020
A new nine-part, multilingual video series delivers critical fish consumption information to Seattle communities who fish the contaminated Duwamish River for food, recreation, and cultural reasons. The video series covers a range of topics, including an introduction to salmon fishing, how much salmon is safe to eat, and how to prepare and cook various salmon dishes. To meet the needs of the area s culturally diverse fishing community, they are available in Spanish, Vietnamese, and Khmer, the official language of Cambodia.
Outreach and Community Engagement - June 1, 2020
NIEHS SRP Centers across the country are contributing their expertise to respond to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. From increasing testing capacity and improving personal protective equipment to creating online tools and outreach materials, SRP researchers are fighting COVID-19 from the local to the global level.
Outreach and Community Engagement - March 20, 2020
In a new NIEHS-funded study, SRP Center researchers revealed elevated levels of heavy metals and arsenic in a local community garden grown on a Brownfields site. By installing raised garden beds on the site, they found that they could grow fruits and vegetables that did not accumulate contaminants.
Outreach and Community Engagement - March 12, 2020
A new online tool combines environmental and health data to identify communities vulnerable to negative effects of environmental exposures and other stressors in the Houston region. The tool, developed by the Texas A&M Superfund Research Program Center in close partnership with the Environmental Defense Fund, helps communities understand how environmental factors like flooding and air pollution can affect their health.
Outreach and Community Engagement - December 12, 2019
In an eight-part video series, Silent Chemicals, Loud Science, researchers at the University of Rhode Island Superfund Research Program Center (URI SRP Center), funded by NIEHS, share important information about per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). PFAS are commonly used in consumer products and firefighting foams and can accumulate in the environment.
Outreach and Community Engagement - October 31, 2019
NIEHS staff and grantees shared their expertise and discussed ways to address pressing environmental health issues at the Pacific Basin Consortium (PBC) conference, September 15 -19 in Kyoto, Japan.
Outreach and Community Engagement - July 24, 2019
At the Fish Smart Celebration, the Duke Superfund Research Program (SRP) Center team worked to protect the health of subsistence fishers who cast their lines in the Cape Fear River in Wilmington, North Carolina. The May event, held in partnership with Cape Fear River Watch, was part of the Center's "Stop, Check, Enjoy" campaign.
Outreach and Community Engagement - July 23, 2019
The University of Kentucky Superfund Research Program (UK SRP) Center showcased its work at Kentucky's third annual Expanding Your Horizons Conference on April 20. Middle school girls from across the state attended the all-day event. The goal was to inspire young girls to pursue science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers.
Outreach and Community Engagement - July 18, 2019
The Oregon State University (OSU) Superfund Research Program (SRP) Center hosted high school students from tribal nations for its third annual Tribal Youth Campus Tour. During the two-day learning exchange, tribal youth from the Columbia River region learned about SRP research, environmental health, and career opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and math.
Outreach and Community Engagement - July 15, 2019
The 2019 Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS): Second National Conference, held June 10 - 12 at Northeastern University in Boston, brought researchers from diverse disciplines together to discuss cutting-edge PFAS research and strategies to protect human health.
Outreach and Community Engagement - June 13, 2019
Ten Texas A&M University (TAMU) Superfund Research Program (SRP) Center trainees are now more prepared to respond in a safe manner during an emergency. The trainees, along with Garett Sansom, Ph.D., Community Engagement Core member, each earned their 40-hour Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) certification this May.
Outreach and Community Engagement - June 4, 2019
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced that it added seven hazardous waste sites to the National Priorities List (NPL) of Superfund sites. The added sites in California, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Puerto Rico, and West Virginia include former mine, steel, metal finishing, and landfill sites.
Outreach and Community Engagement - May 3, 2019
On March 21, the Duke University Superfund Research Program (SRP) Center convened stakeholders from across North Carolina in Raleigh to discuss fish consumption advisories and how to improve the process to best protect public health. NC Fish Forum attendees focused on known risks like mercury, as well as emerging contaminants such as per- and polyfluorinated compounds.
Outreach and Community Engagement - April 24, 2019
Two Texas A&M University (TAMU) Superfund Research Program (SRP) Center projects are translating their research to help communities facing impacts and health risks from climate-related disasters, such as wildfires and flooding. These projects are improving community assessments and resilience planning in areas facing these challenges.
Outreach and Community Engagement - April 19, 2019
Researchers from the Brown University Superfund Research Program (SRP) Center designed a geospatial tool and database to map and identify areas in Rhode Island that are likely to be contaminated with toxic waste.
Outreach and Community Engagement - February 20, 2019
In a new book, Scott Frickel, Ph.D., a professor of sociology and member of the Brown University Superfund Research Program (Brown SRP) Center, discusses the industrial past of four different cities and how their history helps us to better understand and manage potentially toxic contamination.
Outreach and Community Engagement - February 14, 2019
Researchers from the Oregon State University Superfund Research Program (OSU SRP) Center have collaborated with the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community (SITC) to measure potential exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The community-based participatory research project engaged residents in the research study.
Outreach and Community Engagement - February 13, 2019
Environmental health science professionals came together to discuss reporting back research results at the annual NIEHS Partnerships for Environmental Public Health (PEPH) meeting, held Dec 13-14. Among the participants, members of several Superfund Research Program (SRP)-funded Centers shared their experiences and tools focused on reporting research results back to study participants. According to an NIEHS story, the meeting reflected a critical need to ensure that individuals and communities that are part of a research study have access to their data and information on what it means for their health.
Outreach and Community Engagement - February 7, 2019
The University of Rhode Island Superfund Research Program (URI SRP) Center has produced a variety of resources to explain the potential effects of poly- and perfluorinated alkyl substances (PFASs) and ways to reduce exposure. The URI SRP Sources, Transport, Exposure, and Effects of PFASs (STEEP) Center is addressing the emerging and expanding problem of PFAS contamination.