The fifth annual NC BREATHE Conference was held on April 11 at Cape Fear Community College in Wilmington, NC. The one-day event focused on environmental justice in North Carolina and how health professionals, researchers, communities and policymakers can work together to protect vulnerable communities.
The 2019 NC Breathe Conference will offer, for the first time, continuing education credits through South East Area Health Education Center (SEAHEC). Click here for more information on credit type and how to apply.
This session will focus on how we can use citizen science as a tool to address environmental justice. Citizen science is the involvement of the public in scientific research – whether community-driven research or global investigations. Communities and researchers in North Carolina have been using sensors and tools to measure environmental health issues in their communities.
Devon Hall, Rural Empowerment Association for Community Help: Hall is a community leader in Duplin County who has used low-cost sensors and citizen science to in Duplin County to look at environmental pollution related to CAFOs.
Ron Ross, Northwood Estates Community Organization, Historic West End Neighborhood Association: Ross is a community leader that worked with Clean Air Carolina to place several particle pollution sensors in the Charlotte's Historic West End to assess the area's air quality.
Omega Wilson, West End Revitalization Association: Wilson leads WERA and has used citizen science and community engagement to address water quality issues in Mebane, NC. He has also worked with EPA on environmental justice issues.
Amanda Kaufman (moderator), M.S.P.H., US Environmental Protection Agency: Kaufman has been a leader in citizen science at the federal level and the use of air sensors.
This session will focus on how we can use science communication to address environmental justice. Science communication is important because it takes complex scientific information and disseminates it to the public in a knowledgeable and digestible manner. This tool is key to inform affected communities and stakeholders about the negative impacts of environmental justice.
Veronica Carter, Coastal Federation Board: Carter is a leader in environmental justice issues and while not a scientist, she digests scientific information and shares it with communities.
Beth Hassett-Sipple, M.S.P.H., US Environmental Protection Agency: Hassett-Sipple is a science associate with the Air and Energy program, who regularly communicates complex issues with a variety of audiences.
Virginia Guidry, Ph.D., NC Dept of Public Health: Guidry is a science communicator and did her graduate work on CAFOs and working with communities.
Neasha Graves (moderator), M.P.A., UNC Chapel Hill: Graves coordinates environmental health outreach programming aimed at helping the public understand environmental health issues.
This session will focus on how we can use data to address environmental justice. Data is essential to clarify and support all issues. It is important because it takes complex scientific information and disseminates it to the public in a knowledgeable and digestible manner. Data is key to inform affected communities, stakeholders and policymakers about the negative impacts of environmental justice.
Will Hendrick, J.D., Waterkeeper Alliance: Hendrick is an attorney that has used data to combat threats to environmental health.
Julia Kravchenko, M.D., Ph.D., Duke University: Kravchenko recently published articles in the NC Medical Journal using large datasets to look at the disproportionate effects CAFOs and Coal Ash has on NC counties.
Chandra Taylor, J.D., Southern Environmental Law Center: Taylor is a senior attorney specializing in transportation and land use issues. She is also president of the Julius S. Chambers Center for Civil Rights.
Gregory Kearney (moderator), Dr.PH., M.P.H., East Carolina University: Kearney worked for the CDC, National Environmental Public Health Tracking Program. Currently he is assisting with implementation of the NC Environmental Health Tracking Program, a large database of information that can be used to better understand environmental health related issues in NC.
To encourage attendance from individuals that have family care responsibilities, here is information on local drop-in daycare for children and adults in the Wilmington area. Care.com provides a list of license drop-in child day care locations in the Wilmington area.
Elderhaus is the only licensed adult day service in the Wilmington area.
Clean Air Carolina (CAC) hopes everyone who registers for the NC BREATHE conference will be able to attend; however, CAC knows extenuating circumstances do occur. Registrants canceling after March 28, 2019 will not receive a refund. The refund and cancellation policy will not be waived. Registration fees may be transferred to another individual.
For those whom or in which the registration fee and travel would impede their participation, we may be able to offer a conference travel scholarship. Please contact Rachel McIntosh-Kastrinsky [email protected] for further assistance.
Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute Of Environmental Health Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R13ES030619. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.