The goal of the project is to build community-level resilience against increased air and water pollution due to climate changes in underserved communities in the mystic river watershed

Activities:: the project will 1) use a novel multi-stressor health impact assessment (HIA) framework to encode community insights into a high-resolution geospatial database characterizing chemical exposures, vulnerability, and geographic/sociodemographic CO-occurrence of hazards; 2) develop impact models to highlight locations prone to cumulative climate risks and chemical exposures; 3) use multi-stressor epidemiological analyses to evaluate conjoint or cascading hazards to vulnerable people and neighborhoods; and 4) apply the research findings to refine health risks and to inform state and local policies and investments to protect human health and the environment. Subrecipient:mystic river watershed association (myrwa, $180,000) will partner with BU to develop and implement survey instruments in the community, convene meetings of external stakeholders to assess community preferences, provide contact with local decision makers to facilitate solutions-oriented work, and engage with advisory committee members to solicit feedback on grant progress.outcomes:deliverables include annual and final research reports and scientific publications. Outputs include a high-resolution geospatial database and mapping tool that is readily responsive to community interests and concerns. The tool will be used by public health professionals and community planners to prioritize operational and capital improvements needed to prevent and decrease chemical exposures and improve climate resilience among vulnerable people and neighborhoods over time. Expected outcomes include improved human health of the residents in underserved communities in the mystic river watershed. Intended beneficiaries include communities in the mystic river watershed as well as other similar communities across the nation, as well as public health professionals and state and local resource managers.