Deputy Director Dr. Haynes and Team Develop Citizen Science Soil Sampling Toolkit to Empower Citizen Scientists
EAST LIVERPOOL — River Valley Organizing is collaborating with researchers from Kent State East Liverpool Campus and the University of Kentucky to offer a citizen science soil sampling toolkit for residents of East Liverpool. The Citizen Science toolkit is now ready for residents in East Liverpool or neighboring communities to use.
Community residents can pick up a toolkit at the River Valley Organizing office at 506 Walnut St., East Liverpool or by calling Organizer Thomas Powell at 330-708-4097. Completed soil sampling toolkits must be dropped off to River Valley Organizing by Nov. 12. Individuals will receive personalized soil sampling results within a couple months.
The toolkit was designed with input from local East Liverpool residents. These individuals piloted the soil sampling toolkit in their own yards. In a meeting open to residents in 2018, and in surveys open to the residents of East Liverpool, there were concerns about possible metals in the environment that may negatively affect health. To address these concerns, this study focused on metals in the soil and ways that residents could collect soil samples using Citizen Science. The researchers developed a Citizen Science toolkit to collect soil to allow for large scale mapping of metals in the soil. Residents in East Liverpool can help the scientific process by using the toolkit to collect soil samples that will then be tested for metals like lead and manganese. Having only three researchers try and collect a representative sample of soil in East Liverpool would take a lot of time and resources. The idea with Citizen Science is that the average person can be part of the soil collection process to aid scientists in collecting soil to be tested.
With the help of everyday citizens, residents in the area can take 5 to 10 minutes to collect soil in their own yards. Once soil is collected it will be sent to the lab and tested for metals. Each participant will receive a personalized report of the metals in their soil and will have the option to meet with researchers to discuss the results.
The team collaborating on this initiative came together three years ago and consists of Amanda Kiger, Executive Director of River Valley Organizing; Lydia Rose, PhD, Associate Professor of Sociology at the Kent State University East Liverpool Campus; and Erin Haynes, DrPH, Kurt W. Deuschle Professor of Preventive Medicine and Environmental Health at the University of Kentucky College of Public Health. Funding for this project is through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Interdisciplinary Research Leader program.
If interested in participating in the soil sampling project, visit www.rivervalleyorganizing.org for the protocol and instructions or call Organizer Thomas Powell at 330-708-4097 for more information.
Questions regarding this study can be directed to Dr. Lydia Rose at Kent State University, East Liverpool by calling 330-382-7572 or emailing her at Lrose17@kent.edu.
>>> Click here to see the article as it originally appeared in The Morning Journal News.
Submitted photo From left, Erin Haynes, DrPH, Kurt W. Deuschle Professor of Preventive Medicine and Environmental Health at the University of Kentucky College of Public Health; Lydia Rose, PhD, Associate Professor of Sociology at the Kent State University East Liverpool Campus; and Amanda Kiger, Executive Director of River Valley Organizing.
