STEM Participation through Community Air Quality Sensor Networks and Data Science

该奖项的全部或部分资金来自《2021年美国救援计划法案》(公法117-2)。由于气候变化和环境差异造成的社会经济不平等在边缘化社区中被放大，特别是由于空气质量差。我们呼吸的空气--一个连接我们所有人的普遍变量--是人类健康和死亡率的主要决定因素。长期暴露于恶劣的空气质量，特别是颗粒物(PM)，与许多与健康预后不良(如癌症、心血管疾病、肺部疾病)相关的共病有关，每年导致约700万人死亡。该项目将实施面对面/虚拟社区干预措施，让参与者利用高成本和低成本的空气质量传感器技术以及数据分析，以更好地了解糟糕的空气质量如何导致不利的健康影响，特别是新冠肺炎。项目团队将与纽约市和新泽西州的城市学术机构和住宅合作，培训他们如何建造和操作高成本和低成本的空气质量传感器，以收集PM10、PM2.5和PM1的室内空气质量测量数据。项目团队将与社区参与者合作，培训他们如何构建数据可视化产品，以量化空气质量水平对个人和县一级不利健康影响的贡献。这一举措还将使社区参与者参与进来，使他们能够使用成熟的统计方法量化收集的数据之间的相关性。项目团队将培训参与者利用开源工具来检查航空包裹的物理来源并预测它们的去向。最后，该计划将实施软技能和硬技能培训以及STEM专业发展(PD)研讨会-所有这些都旨在优化STEM学科和职业的招聘、保留和成功入学。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). Socioeconomic inequities due to climate variation and environmental disparities are amplified in marginalized communities, especially through poor air quality. The air we breathe – a universal variable that connects us all – is a prime determinant of human health and mortality. Long-term exposure to poor air quality, especially particulate matter (PM), is linked to many comorbidities that have been associated with poor health prognoses (e.g., cancer, cardiovascular disease, lung disease), which contribute to approximately 7 million deaths per year. This project will implement face-to-face/virtual community interventions to engage participants in utilizing high- and low-cost air quality sensor technologies together with data analytics to better understand how poor air quality contributes to adverse health impacts, especially COVID-19. The project team will work with urban academic institutions and residences in New York City and New Jersey to train them on how to build and operate high- and low-cost air quality sensors for the collection of indoor air quality measurements of PM10, PM2.5, and PM1. The project team will work with community participants to train them how to construct data visualization products to quantify the contribution of air quality levels to adverse health impacts at the individual and county level. This initiative will also engage community participants, such that they are able to quantify the correlation among collected data using well-established statistical approaches. The project team will train participants to utilize open-source tools to examine the physics of where air parcels come from and forecast where they are going. Lastly, the initiative will implement soft- and hard-skills training and STEM professional development (PD) workshops – all aimed at optimizing recruitment, retention, and successful matriculation in STEM disciplines and careers.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.