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Our Community Research Priorities

Community Research Priorities

The UC Davis Environmental Health Sciences Center (EHSC) supports translational environmental health research in collaboration with community stakeholders located in California’s Central Valley. This region is home to 4 million people who face high rates of poverty, racialized and disproportionate exposure to environmental hazards and limited access to health care.

One mechanism the EHSC uses to center those most directly impacted by environmental health issues is to maintain an up-to-date list of Community Research Priorities. These priorities synthesize high-priority, policy-relevant research needs identified by our Community Advisory Committee (CAC). Each year, these priorities are integrated into the EHSC’s Pilot Projects RFP to help scientists develop timely, policy-relevant environmental health research projects.

 

Pregnant person standing in a city landscape with visibly polluted air, wearing a mask

Air Quality

  • Ultrafine Particulate Matter
  • Air Toxics
  • Air Quality Monitoring & Notifications
  • Oil & Gas Setbacks
  • AB617 Implementation
  • Wildfire Smoke

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Preschool age child with light brown skin and dark brown hair drinking a glass of water

Water Quality & Quantity

  • Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs)
  • Microplastics
  • SB 200 Implementation
  • Drought Resiliency
  • SGMA Implementation
  • Wastewater Management
  • PFAS Regulation & Remediation

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Agricultural workers working in a field with a highway in the background

Pesticides

  • Neonicotinoids
  • Rulemaking for 1,3-D (Telone)
  • School Buffer Zones
  • Alternatives to Hazardous Pesticides
  • Public Notification

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Oil rig in rural Kern County, California

Climate Change & Health Equity

  • Carbon Capture & Sequestration
  • Cap and Trade & REDD+
  • SB 375 Implementation
  • Lithium Extraction
  • Extreme Heat

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Surface Impoundment Pond at Kettleman Hills Toxic Waste Facility

Hazardous Waste Disposal

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CalEnviroScreen mapping tool showing levels of health and pollution indicators in Central California

Research Methods

  • Health Equity Risk Assessments
  • True Cost Accounting
  • Policy Impact Assessment
  • Life Cycle Assessment
  • Health Equity Data Visualization Tools
  • Exposomics

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If you would like to develop a proposal on one of these topics and/or be connected to one of the community organizations we work with for possible research collaboration, please email the Community Engagement Core’s Assistant Director, Shosha Capps (sacapps@ucdavis.edu).