"Air, Water, Blood: The Power of Community-Engaged Research" broadcasted at the American Public Health Association Public Health Film Festival!
In "Air, Water, Blood: The Power of Community-Engaged Research" filmmaker Paige Bierma showcases Dr. Clare Cannon's EHSC Pilot Project addressing environmental health concerns in a small agricultural town in California. Using a community-based participatory research approach, Dr. Cannon and her community partners in Kettleman City highlighted the negative effects of a class 1 hazardous waste landfill in the town.
In October 2021, our film "Air, Water, Blood: The Power of Community-Engaged Research" was broadcast at the American Public Health Association Public Health Film Festival.
Kettleman City is a small, farmworker town of 1,500 residents and one of the birthplaces of California’s Environmental Justice movement. Diesel fumes from trucks, pesticide runoff from agriculture and one of the largest toxic waste dumps in the nation have residents wondering how all this pollution is hurting their community. From 2007 to 2010, a cluster of birth defects and infant deaths led to a state investigation that activists criticized for not involving the community or being thorough enough.
UC Davis researcher Dr. Clare Cannon proposed doing a pilot study to address these and other concerns residents still had. This mini-documentary chronicles Cannon's efforts and how her relationship with community members helped to make her science stronger.