Collaborative Research: Converging COVID-19, environment, health, and equity

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Environmental engineering and science is a highly diverse field that uses knowledge of physics, chemistry, and biology to help protect human and ecological health. Many environmental engineers and scientists are doing research on COVID-19 to better understand of how to control the spread of the disease, as well as providing safe food and drinking water. The goal of this project is to hold a series of virtual meetings over six weeks bringing together researchers to discuss their work on COVID-19 in an integrated manner. They will also explore how inequities influence the outcomes and impact of their work. Benefits to society resulting from this work result from open source learning materials that show how different environments link to each other during the pandemic, and how to address inequities in society to come up with better solutions for sustainable communities. This meeting will feature a diverse representation of environmental engineering and science researchers. To maximize impact, the meeting will be open to anyone in the world, and all recordings will be shared on websites and over social media.The goal of this project is to host a series of meetings bringing together researchers from environmental engineering and science and related fields to share knowledge and discuss interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary linkages as they relate to COVID-19 and the need for developing more healthy, just, and equitable societies. The themes for the proposed sessions will align COVID-19 and the Grand Challenges for Environmental Engineering in the 21st Century as outlined in the National Academies of Sciences Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) study which include: (1) sustainably supplying food, energy, and water, (2) creating efficient, healthy, and resilient cities, (3) designing a future without pollution and waste, (4) climate change mitigation and adaptation, and (5) fostering informed decisions and actions. The meeting presents a new model of participation in a combined asynchronous and synchronous multimedia online learning environment. Presenters will be selected to reflect the diversity of the Nation, with particular effort made to recruit presenters who are currently underrepresented in STEM. Early career post-doctoral researchers and assistant professors will be presenters and session chairs to foster career development. Participants will be encouraged to register for the certificate portion of the meeting which requires the successful completion of six quizzes related to each session. A manuscript based on the meeting will be submitted to the journal of Environmental Engineering and Science to share best practices for virtual format for meetings and the convergence of environmental engineering and science through COVID-19.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.