Community Mapping Workshop Series - Institute for Exposomic Research

Environmental Health in Action

*Community Mapping Workshop, Session 1 Attendees and Presenters*

Community mapping in environmental health science aims to empower communities by integrating local knowledge with scientific methods to gather and analyze data. This process enables the discovery of actionable insights, making it a valuable resource for advocacy, strategic planning, and implementing solutions specific to a community’s needs. Mapping of neighborhood characteristics such as environmental pollution sources and assets can help to identify vulnerable communities and gaps in available resources. Increasing access to publicly available databases and free mapping software has facilitated the generation of maps that can help individuals locate needed resources or promote policy change. Data storytelling through maps can be a highly effective tool, yet community organizations may lack familiarity with the resources that are available.

To address this identified need, the Mount Sinai HEALS Community Engagement Core, Conduits Clinical Translational Science Award Program (CTSA) Community and Collaboration Core, together with community and agency partners, hosted a Research to Action Community Mapping workshop series for community partners and trainees. Workshop facilitators included Mount Sinai faculty and partners from NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Agency for Toxic Substances Disease Research (ATSDR), and the Region 2 US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). Attendees across this series of three workshops included 30 community partners and trainees. Participants engaged in facilitated hands-on exercises to explore publicly available datasets and explore how data story mapping can be used to improve the health of communities.

Dr. Sarah Johnson of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene described how publicly available data and mapping tools can be used to tell impactful stories that highlight how policy change can reduce harmful community-level exposures.

*Mount Sinai HEALS faculty member Dr. Itai Kloog shared how his laboratory uses GIS mapping tools to study air pollution.*

*Workshop attendees learned how to use the USEPA mapping tools to characterize vulnerable communities from Lance Caldwell of the Region 2 USEPA.*

As a follow up to the workshop series, participants were invited to Mount Sinai to share works in progress presentations describing how they are applying lessons learned to projects in the communities they work with. Anna Tsomo Leideker and Alysa Chen from the Sixth Street Community Center, located in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, introduced a new community air quality monitoring project involving youth engaged in their teen environmental health program. The project aims to compare air quality data from different neighborhood locations to assess correlations with factors including construction activities, proximity to highways, the prevalence of government-subsidized housing, and other community-identified potential pollution sources. Using the collected data, they plan to create a broadly accessible storymap to translate scientific findings into an engaging and digestible format for the community, empowering residents with actionable insights.

Anna Tsomo-Leideker and Alysa Chen of Sixth Street Community Center shared pilot data from a CTSA, HEALS, and EPA-funded air quality community mapping study with teens on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

Luz Guel Salazar, a member of the community engagement team at the Mount Sinai Center on Health and Environment Across the LifeSpan (HEALS), also gave a works-in-progress presentation on their project in Jamaica, Queens that prioritizes collaboration with the local community. The initiative focused on addressing issues related to waste transfer in the area by engaging residents to identify their most pressing concerns and priorities. This approach shifted the project focus from a researcher-driven one to solutions that directly enhance community quality of life. As part of an EPA grant application aimed at providing air pollution mitigation strategies to the neighborhood, the community decided to construct a garden wall. This green wall would be funded by the waste transfer center to mitigate odors and pollutants while simultaneously creating a new development in which the community could take pride.

*Luz Guel Salazar presenting on the community mapping strategy employed in a HEALS and EPA-funded project to address the impacts of a waste transfer station on community health in Jamaica, Queens.*

“Being a part of a Community-Based Organization there is so much we can do as an agency to support our families. We are always looking for tools to share with our families to empower them and know what is available in their community.” – Workshop Attendee

Feedback from workshop attendees was resoundingly positive, with greater than 90% of attendees reporting increased knowledge and capacity related to the use of mapping tools in their work. One trainee reported “This workshop revolutionized my ability to do future public health research not only utilizing mapping tools, but creating my own maps to present data and messaging. Such a useful tool to have in my arsenal!” Building on the success of the mapping workshop series, the HEALS CEC will continue to work with partners to provide additional training and resources that support community needs.