- COMMUNITY OUTREACH AND ENGAGEMENT CORE Because of their proximity to agriculture and agribusinesses, rural people have significant exposures to bioaerosols, organic dust, and allergens; agricultural pesticides and farm chemicals; and antibiotic-resistant pathogens from the livestock industry. The Community Outreach and Engagement Core at the University of Iowa EHSRC seeks to assist rural populations by disseminating and translating relevant environmental health research conducted within the Center. In 2015, the EHSRC COEC conducted a needs assessment in which many of the environmental health issues identified by Iowa communities were related to rural life exposures, including Water Quality, Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs), Land Use, Food Safety, Radon, Metals, and Healthy Homes. The Center and COEC have conducted research and community engagement on many of these issues and will continue to do so going forward. Additionally, the COEC will continue to build upon its established successes. Our Environmental Health Workshops for Midwest Legislators have served as a model for other centers to replicate and modify, and we will continue to work with our partners at NCSL and the American Lung Association of the Upper Midwest to carry these into the future. The Science Caf series we established in 2013 has been well received in rural Iowa communities and the COEC will work to bring high-quality, relevant science to these communities in the years to come. We will remain active in radon research and translation through our affiliations with the Iowa Radon Coalition and engaged in disseminating the latest information on climate change and human health to legislators, the lay public and the scientific community. Our team will continue to provide training and technical assistance to Center members and scientists undertaking community research. Finally, we have increased our involvement in disaster preparedness by partnering with the Iowa Flood Information System on the inclusion of public health information, working with public health professionals on a training video for flood responders. Through these efforts toward delivering science and technology-based information to meet the needs of our scientists, communities and stakeholders, the EHSRC COEC remains an integral and integrated part of the Center.
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