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Citizen scientist efforts, wherein members of the public who are not professional scientists participate in active research, have been shown to effectively engage the public in STEM fields and result in valuable data, essential to answering pressing research questions. However, most citizen scientist efforts have been centered in colleges of science, and a limited number have crossed into research areas important to chemical engineering fields. In this work we report on the results of a project to recruit high school and middle school students across Utah’s Salt Lake Valley as citizen scientists and potential engineering students who work in partnership with chemical engineering researchers in an effort to create a distributed online network of air quality sensors. Middle and high school students were trained by undergraduate mentors to monitor and maintain their own outdoor air quality sensor with the help of teaching materials that were co-developed with Breathe Utah, a local community group concerned with air quality. With the help of these tailored teaching modules, students learned about the science behind air quality research and the difficulties common to physical measurements to better prepare them to analyze their data. Once trained, students are expected to become semi-independent researchers in charge of monitoring and maintaining their piece of a larger air quality map. We describe in this work the hurdles inherent in citizen science engagement within a chemical engineering research program and the means to address them. We describe successful means of engaging classrooms, training citizen scientists, obtaining faculty buy-in within the confines of state curricular demands, and addressing school administration concerns. With this model, we have directly engaged over 1,000 high school and over 3,000 middle school students. The project has resulted in a growing network of citizen-maintained sensors that contributes to a real-time air quality map. Student scientists may also use the sensors to participate in active research or conduct science fair projects. Student response to this citizen scientist project, where it may be measured, has been enthusiastic and almost wholly positive.
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Seeing the “Unseeable,” A Student-Led Activity to Identify Metals in Drinking Water
Municipal drinking water, regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency via the Safe Drinking Water act, has long been assumed to be contaminant-free. However, crises related to drinking water have emerged, most notably the “Flint Water Crisis” in Flint, MI, where high levels of lead (Pb) were detected in the area’s water. Much of the water-sampling data collected in Flint was obtained by “Citizen Scientists” working closely with a team of researchers at Virginia Tech, who used the analytical technique of Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) to quantify metal ions present in the water. Inspired by these efforts, we developed adaptable public water testing outreach efforts, led by students in Baltimore city (Middle School, High School, and College), to test the city’s drinking water. These “student-scientists” read news and scientific articles to understand the public health impact of lead in drinking water and the analytical approaches scientists use to detect metal ions in water. The students then developed a written “water collection protocol” and sought participation from colleagues (other students, faculty, and staff) who collected their home drinking water to be tested. The student scientists prepared and analyzed samples for lead (Pb) as well as copper (Cu), iron (Fe), and zinc (Zn) metal ions commonly found in drinking water, to be tested via ICP-MS. Data were then plotted onto a map of Baltimore City, with the metal levels indicated for each Zip code. This outreach event connects science to real-life news events while teaching analytical methodology and can be tailored to students at various stages of their education.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1708732
- PAR ID:
- 10184036
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Chemical Education
- ISSN:
- 0021-9584
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Although water is considered essential to life and an important natural resource, disadvantaged communities, such as low-income and minority communities, are disproportionately burdened by lead exposure in drinking water. In this paper, we highlight case studies that have received national press coverage as well as recent examples of community lead poisoning hazards that are still ongoing across various regions of the US. We show through these three case studies of Flint, Michigan, Washington, D.C., and Birmingham, Alabama, that the severity and frequency of this pervasive public health problem are highly concentrated in minority and low-income populations, and thus they bear the brunt of the socio-economic impacts. We identify the use of sensors to improve detection of hazardous materials and decrease inequities in drinking water contamination. To address water-related equity issues, we call for a sustainable community capacity approach that consists of shared governance between those who live in a community and stakeholders, such as businesses and health services, who have vested interests in it. We conclude by highlighting ways that a community could build collective social capital, safeguarding its environment from lead poisoning through health literacy education. Promoting water literacy is highly significant since water knowledge is crucial towards achieving water sustainability and equity.more » « less
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Exposure to lead, a toxic heavy metal, in drinking water is a worldwide problem. Lead leaching from lead service lines, the main contamination source, and other plumbing materials is controlled by the plumbosolvency of water. Square wave anodic stripping voltammetry (SWASV) has been greatly explored as a rapid and portable technique for the detection of trace Pb 2+ ions in drinking water. However, the impact of water quality parameters (WQP) on the SWASV technique is not well understood. Herein, SWASV was employed to detect 10 μg L −1 Pb 2+ and determine trends in the stripping peak changes in simulated water samples while individually varying the pH, conductivity, alkalinity, free chlorine, temperature, and copper levels. The pH and conductivity were controlled using the buffer 3-( N -morpholino)propanesulfonic acid (MOPS), and NaNO 3 , respectively and kept at pH = 7.0 and conductivity = 500 μS cm −1 when exploring other WQPs. The working electrode, a gold-nanoparticle-modified carbon nanotube fiber cross-section (AuNP-CNT f -CS) electrode provided sufficiently sharp and prominent peaks for 10 μg L −1 Pb 2+ detection as well as good reproducibility, with a relative error of 5.9% in simulated water. We found that conductivity, and temperature had a proportional relationship to the peak height, and pH, alkalinity, free chlorine, and copper had an inverse relationship. In addition, increasing the copper concentration caused broadening and shifting of the Pb 2+ stripping peak. At extremely low conductivities (<100 μS cm −1 ), the voltammograms became difficult to interpret owing to the formation of inverted and distorted peaks. These trends were then also observed within a local drinking water sample in order to validate the results.more » « less
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.9b00553
