The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences’ Hazardous Substance Basic Research and Training Program (Superfund Research Program [SRP]) funds university-based grants to find real and practical solutions to protect the public from exposure to hazardous substances found in contaminated water, soil, and air at hazardous waste sites. SRP’s central goal is to understand and break the link between chemical exposure and disease. The SRP map identifies the locations of SRP grantees, as well as hazardous waste sites where they conduct research or outreach.
SRP proactively communicates its scientific accomplishments to its stakeholders – whether to the public through community outreach and engagement, to industry via technology, or to government through partnerships. This includes partnering with Tribes in determining exposure pathways relevant to their traditional and cultural practices. See SRP’s Community Engagement and Research Translation webpage for more information.
Tribal Project Examples
Jamie Donatuto, an environmental health analyst for the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, has developed and applied Indigenous Health Indicators as a part of her community‑led approach to environmental health research. These metrics broaden the definition of health to include cultural, social, and environmental relationships that are central to Swinomish wellbeing. As the co-leader of the Community Engagement Core at the Oregon State University SRP Center, Donatuto works with the Swinomish Tribe to address environmental contamination and climate change impacts – particularly on traditional foods – while ensuring that research, risk assessment, and decision‑making reflect Swinomish values, priorities, and sovereignty.
The New Mexico Metals Exposure and Toxicity Assessment on Tribal Lands in the Southwest (METALS) SRP Center hosts Mallery Quetawki, a member of the Pueblo of Zuni Tribe and an artist‑in‑residence with the University of New Mexico College of Pharmacy’s Community Environmental Health Program. Mallory uses visual art to improve environmental health literacy in Indigenous communities. Quetawki uses Art as a Health Literacy Tool by blending Indigenous ways of knowing with Western science to translate complex topics such as human anatomy, environmental exposures, and disease processes into culturally resonant artwork. Her work has shown that art can facilitate meaningful conversations between patients from tribal communities and healthcare providers, support community understanding of health risks, and serve as an effective tool for communicating scientific research in ways that are accessible, respectful, and relevant to Native communities.
The University of Arizona SRP conducted the research necessary to address community concerns and provided expert interviews for media coverage of Gold King Mine Spill in 2016. See UA’s Gold King Mine Spill – Diné Exposure Project to learn more about the focus groups in the affected Navajo communities, sampling, and partnerships.
