Introduction to Online

Environmental Health Research

Tools for Environmental and
Health Professionals, and
Dr. David A. Community
Padgett, Associate
Stakeholders
Professor of Geography, Tennessee
State University, Nashville, Tennessee
Dr. Fatima Mncube-Barnes,
Executive Director, Louis Stokes
Health Sciences Library
Howard University, Washington, DC

Workshop Target Audience

and Objectives
Target Audience
Health/environmental professionals, community stakeholders/activists, and
others working to investigate environmental health threats in low-income and
minority communities
Objectives
to introduce participants to several online environmental health research
tools, primarily those produced and maintained by federal agencies.
to prepare and encourage participants to assist grassroots stakeholders in
accessing and effectively utilizing online tools to search for potential
environmental health threats in their communities.
to support participants efforts to continue to work with the tools beyond the
end of the workshop
to introduce participants to a massive open online course and the
Tennessee State University Environmental Justice Community Information
Website (https://sites.google.com/site/ejinfotnstate/home)

Classic studies linking toxic waste sites and releasers to low-income and
Black and Latino communities

Recent and
updated studies
indicate that lowincome and
minority
communities
continue to be
impacted at
disproportionately
high rates by toxic
substances.

Demonstration:
My Right-To-Know Application
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

http://www.epa.gov/toxics-release-inventory-tri-program/my-right-know-application

Demonstration:
TOXMAP
National Institutes of Health

http://toxmap.nlm.nih.gov/toxmap/

Demonstration:
Scorecard
Originally created by the Environmental
Defense Fund

http://scorecard.goodguide.com/

Interactive Demonstration:
Environmental Justice Screening and
Mapping Tool (EJ SCREEN)
US Environmental Protection Agency

http://www.epa.gov/ejscreen

Environmental Health Research Tools Study Design

Purpose
Six weeks MOOC:
a) Educate HBCU health professionals on
environmental health research tools.

Certificate:
b) Apply EJ SCREEN, Real-Time Geospatial Data
Viewer (EPA), and
c) Use raw data to apply to Community Focused
Exposure and Risk Screening Tool (C-FERST) in
the context of a community based participatory
research (CBPR) project.

Methods
AIMS:
1. Introduction to environmental
justice issues related to health
threats;
2. Use online environmental research
tools to access authoritative
information; and
3. Apply advanced online health
environmental tools in a CBPR
project using raw data.

Assessment
Pre-survey: evaluate the basic
knowledge of environmental health
justice issues, databases and online
research tools.
Post-survey: evaluate the course
objectives and participants level of
understanding on applied tools

Results
Upon completion, 200 HBCU health
professionals will be knowledgeable
in health hazards and be prepared to
assist community stakeholders in
effective utilization of these tools.
The results of this project will
determine if this course should be
incorporated into the public health
curriculum.

Conclusion
At the end of the course participants
will:
Apply any of the tools to solve
environmental health hazard;
These web-based tools will increase the
knowledge-base to be passed on to
more generations to come.

Additional Resources
TRI Tools Tutorial
http://www.epa.gov/toxics-release-inventory-tri-program/guides-and-tutoria
ls-tri-tools
TOXMAP User Guides
http://toxmap.nlm.nih.gov/toxmap/faq/2009/08/where-can-i-learn-how-to
-use-toxmap.html

FREE WEBINAR!
New Data Tools for Supporting Analysis of
Equitable Development and Environmental Justice
Date: Friday, March 11, 2016
Time: 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM Eastern
Certification Maintenance (CM): 1.5 CM Pending
Register Now: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7540846939874796801
Understanding the challenges and opportunities communities face -- economic,
social, and environmental -- is a prerequisite for making investments that achieve
their goals. To respond to this need, environmental justice stakeholders have begun
developing analytical tools that can give communities rich and accessible
information for supporting local goals for environmental protection and equitable
development in cities and regions.
This webinar will cover two of these tools: EPA's EJSCREEN, an environmental
justice screening and mapping tool; and the National Equity Atlas, a comprehensive
data resource to track, measure, and make the case for inclusive growth developed
by PolicyLink and the Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE). The
webinar will reveal what these tools are and how they have been used in real world
scenarios to advance equity in local and regional development practices.
Presentations will be followed by questions and answers.

US EPA TRI Community Scale

Mapping Project

http://
www2.epa.gov/toxics-release-inventory-tri-program/tri-community-scale-mapping-pr

U.S. EPA TRI Data and Tools

http://www.epa.gov/toxics-release-inventory-tri-program/tri-data-and-tools

U.S. EPA TRI for

Communities

https://www.epa.gov/toxics-release-inventory-tri-program/tri-for-communities

US EPA Envirofacts Site

http://www.epa.gov/enviro/

Real Time GeOspatial Viewer

(RETIGO) U.S. EPA

http://www.epa.gov/hesc/real-time-geospatial-data-viewer-retigo

Community-Focused Exposure
and Risk Screening Tool
(C-FERST) U.S. EPA

https://www.epa.gov/healthresearch/community-focused-exposure-and-riskscreening-tool-c-ferst

https://sites.google.com/site/ejinfotnstate/home

QUESTIONS?

Geographic Information Sciences

Laboratory

Box 9538
Tennessee State University
3500 John Merritt Boulevard
Nashville, Tennessee 37209
615-963-5508
dpadgett@tnstate.edu