Community Outreach and Education

Together Sandra Uesugi and Naomi Hirsch coordinate Community Outreach and Education. Sandra and Naomi focus on engaging ways to inform the public on reducing risk to environmental factors. 

Community Outreach and Education Core (COEC)
Director: Dave Stone

Mission:  To increase the public’s ability to make informed decisions on how to best reduce their risk and susceptibility to environmental factors influencing human health and disease.

Objectives:

1. Promote informed decision-making through education on:
   • Current EHSC research
   • The process and importance of environmental health research
   • Environmentally related disease
   • Individual susceptibility and risk
2. Strengthen and maintain existing community partnerships and seek new relationships to increase the impact of outreach efforts.
3. Create community-learning opportunities.  Methods will include:
   • In-person events such as public workshops and professional trainings. 
   • Emerging technologies to compliment in-person outreach efforts and to reach new audiences.  Web tools include podcasting, video, interactive websites, webinars, and subscription services.
4. Evaluate outreach activities to best accomplish the COEC mission.

The 2008 - 2009 plans include:

1. Expand and adapt the Hydroville Curriculum Project (HCP), an environmental health problem-based curricula, to reach community audiences. This is being accomplished through:

• Healthy Air - Healthy Homes workshops;
• A grant to take HCP to community colleges; and
• An OSU E-campus course for educators.

Additionally, HCP is continually being marketed to school districts, teachers, and other educators throughout the country.

2. Develop and expand the EHSC web site to include emerging technologies, such as podcasting, to reach new audiences and expand efforts to inform and educate the public about EHSC research.

3. Strengthen environmental health education efforts in Oregon and beyond through effective partnerships with other OSU outreach efforts such as Center for Healthy Aging Research, Linus Pauling Institute, OSU Extension Service and the National Pesticide Information Center.

4. Organize the educational activities for the final year of the Health Observances and Public Education Partnership (HOPE).

See information and resources specific to Teachers and Community.

• Peg Cornell, Science Teacher, Crescent Valley High School, Corvallis, OR
• Jae Douglas, Oregon Department of Human Services, Office of Environmental Public Health, Portland, OR
• Anna Harding, Professor, Department of Public Health, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR
• Todd Jarvis, Associate Director, Institute for Water and Watersheds, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR
• Ron Sharman, Environmental Technology Instructor, Linn-Benton Community College, Albany, OR