The garden that grew a movement
“I never have trouble getting people to show up because people are hungry for information and they want to be involved in solutions”
Projects
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Promoting Environmental Health in Leimert Park through Improved Solid Waste Management and Air Quality Education | Uncategorized
Community-Driven Waste Solutions in Leimert Park: A Model for Sustainable Urban Infrastructure
Combining community leadership, technical data, and cross-sector partnerships to advance sustainable waste solutions A popular cultural hub, Leimert Park in South Los Angeles is known for its authentic culture, community gatherings, music, and bringing people…
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Promoting environmental education: Engaging the next generation of leaders in Ejido Santa María, México. | Stories & Results | TEXnews
Project Highlight: Santa María, Coahuila
Written by Guadalupe Abigail Salazar Celaya Ciencia que se construye desde el territorio: una experiencia de diagnóstico comunitario con infancias de la Escuela Primaria “Presidente Benito Juárez” en la comunidad de Santa María, Municipio de…
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Community-Based Analysis and Monitoring of Water Quality in the Rímac and Chillón Rivers, Lima, Peru | Stories & Results | TEXnews
Community Leader Highlight: Renzo Gabriel Valle Estremadoyro and Elizabeth Corzo Jara
This article is written in both English and Spanish. Tell us about your Thriving Earth Exchange project. Cuéntanos sobre su proyecto de Thriving Earth Exchange. The project titled “Community-Based Analysis and Monitoring of Water Quality in the Rímac and Chillón Rivers, Lima, Peru” seeks…
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Community-Based Analysis and Monitoring of Water Quality in the Rímac and Chillón Rivers, Lima, Peru | Stories & Results | TEXnews
Community Science Fellow Highlight: Bernabe Gomez
This article is in both English and Spanish. Bernabe Gomez’s main interests are ocean physics and their relations with coastal areas, especially tsunami waves and flooding, which can have a direct effect on human settlements…
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Empowering Fishermen: Bridging Grassroots Knowledge and Scientific Data Collection for Sustainable Fisheries | Stories & Results | TEXnews | Understanding the Impact of the Urban Heat Island Effect in the Hollygrove Dixon Neighborhood
Communities Get Creative to Drive Engagement in the Deep South
Communities in the Deep South have a long history with environmental and economic challenges, and Thriving Earth Exchange has a robust record of community science collaborations aiming to alleviate some of these issues in the…
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Mapping Islamic Plants to Educate and Connect with the Community’s Culture and Relationship with Earth | Projects | Stories & Results
Project Highlight: The Wisconsin Green Muslims community in Madison and Milwaukee
This month’s Project Highlight celebrates an inspiring collaboration between community, culture, and science through the Wisconsin Green Muslims’ initiative in Madison and Milwaukee. This Thriving Earth Exchange project brings together faith and environmental stewardship by empowering community…
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Celebrating the Stories Behind Community Science
Thanks to a generous grant for the Moore Foundation, AGU Thriving Earth Exchange commissioned four videos about recent community science projects. Each video shares the people, stories, and the science that make community science so…
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Assessing Biosolid Compost Land Application Processes, Benefits, and Community Perceptions | Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes Educational Medicine Wheel Garden Project, Concho, OK | Community Science Hubs | From the Farm to the Table: Indigenizing food sovereignty through place-based and culturally-responsive programming for elementary and middle school students in the eastern Navajo Nation | Projects | TEXnews
Community science strengthens tribal collaborations and capacity
The Kansas State Center for Hazardous Substances Research (CHSR) AGU/Thriving Earth Exchange Community Science Hub is now in its second year of helping Indigenous communities restore underused properties and sustain cultural traditions, with projects underway in seven…
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Community Science Fellow Highlight: María de Lourdes Becerra Zavala
This article is in both English and Spanish. María de Lourdes Becerra Zavala is an anthropologist based in Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico, and a professor in the Department of Anthropology at the Universidad Veracruzana. Her work focuses on…
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Stories & Results | Strengthening Community Air Quality Monitoring in Quintero, Chile / | TEXnews | Uncategorized
Community Leader Highlight: Nicole Nuñez
This article is written in both English and Spanish. Nicole Núñez Vergara is an agronomist with a diploma in Municipal Environmental Management. She co-founded Vivero Los Chungungos, focused on conserving native and endemic flora of central…
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Community Science Hubs | From the Farm to the Table: Indigenizing food sovereignty through place-based and culturally-responsive programming for elementary and middle school students in the eastern Navajo Nation | Projects | Stories & Results | TEXnews
Community science helps schools cultivate food, culture and connection
Many families living in New Mexico’s Central Consolidated School District don’t have access to amenities like grocery stores, and some even lack basic infrastructure such as running water or electricity. The school district, based in…
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Meet the October 2025 Cohort of Community Leaders!
Thriving Earth Exchange is excited to announce the October 2025 launch of community leaders! They will work with Community Science Fellows to launch 12 Community Science projects in the United States, Mexico, Chile and Peru….
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Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes Educational Medicine Wheel Garden Project, Concho, OK | Community Science Hubs | Projects | Stories & Results | TEXnews
Moving Forward by Connecting with the Past
With a heritage garden, an indigenous community seeks renewal for its land and people As you stride across the prairie, bursting with late-summer wildflowers and scented with wild sage, the overwhelming impression is of vastness….
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/ Divulgación y Participación Comunitaria en Cenotes Turísticos | Open Projects | Projects | Stories & Results | TEXnews | Uncategorized
Community Science Fellow Highlight: Camila García-Echeverri
This article is in both English and Spanish. Camila García-Echeverri is a Colombian civil engineer with a Master’s in Hydraulic Resources from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Currently, she also holds a diploma in Project…
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Climate | Developing a Methodology for Measuring Changes in Albedo to Reduce Urban Heat Island Effect | Projects
Local Actions to Battle Rising Temperatures: a 5 Year Retrospective on Cambridge’s Fight Against Urban Heat Island Effect
by Julia Jeanty Before becoming the AGU Thriving Earth Exchange Program Manager for Community Science Fellows, Julia Jeanty served as a volunteer Community Science Fellow on a project in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In the blog below,…
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Assessing Air Quality Impacts on an Underserved Neighborhood in St. Louis | Open Projects | Stories & Results | TEXnews
Project Highlight: Harnessing Community Science for Cleaner Air and Healthier Futures in Lewis Place, St. Louis
Project Team: Dr. Pamela Talley, Mr. Richard Ellis, Ojasi Kirtikar, Ogonna Precious Eli, PhD Student, & Mr. Mercy Onaopemipo Akintola In the heart of St. Louis, Missouri, the historic Lewis Place neighborhood is standing up…
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Introducing Geotourism in the Yanacancha-Huaquis Cultural Landscape | Open Projects | Stories & Results | TEXnews
Community Leader Highlight: Mirella Gallardo and Rafael Schmitt
The article below is in both English and Spanish Community Leader Highlight: Mirella Gallardo and Rafael Schmitt Established in 1995 to help Andean mountain communities like Miraflores improve their livelihoods, Instituto de Montaña develops community-driven…
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Identification of Pollutants in the Conodoguinet Creek Watershed: A Recommendation for Protection | Stories & Results
“A Long Way With Many Bends”: Water quality in Conodoguinet Creek, Pennsylvania
Asking tough questions about water quality, a Pennsylvania team discovers the power of a pivot Encompassing more than 500 square miles of central Pennsylvania, the Conodoguinet Creek watershed provides drinking water and recreational opportunities to…
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Planning the Development of a Community Land Trust on Dynamite Hill | Rooted (Restoring Our Own Truth (Through) Education & Demonstration) | Stories & Results | TEXnews | Understanding the Impact of the Urban Heat Island Effect in the Hollygrove Dixon Neighborhood
Capacity Collaborative Celebrates Successes
The Capacity Collaborative (TCC), a non-profit built around bolstering resilience in rural communities, is one of four AGU Thriving Earth Exchange Community Science Hubs. Now in its second year of community science projects, TCC’s Southeast…
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Miraflores: Community of Yauyos Province of Peru
The article below is in both English and Spanish Welcome to Miraflores Miraflores is a very small town in the mountainous Yauyos Province of Peru. Its residents are highly dependent on farming and livestock, but…
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Updates from Adel, GA
January 5, 2023 Our community leads have reached a settlement agreement with the Spectrum Energy Georgia LLC in the operation of a proposed wood pellet plant in Adel. Effective December 24, 2022, the agreement includes…
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Developing a Nature-Connection Internship to Improve Mental Health for Black Youth | Projects | Uncategorized
Community Insights: A Healing Village for Oakland’s Young People
There is a growing awareness about the connection between time spent in nature and our mental health. At the same time, there is a growing concern about the mental health of teens, who spend…
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Meet Our April 2022 Cohort of Community Leads in Wisconsin
AGU’s Thriving Earth Exchange, in partnership with the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s UniverCity Alliance and Educational Partnerships for Innovation in Communities Network (EPIC-N), will support 14 projects across the state of Wisconsin. As participants in the…
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An intercontinental coalition to create a resilient community
Residents and volunteer scientists collaborate across continents to build flood resilience Ellicott City, Maryland, is part of the Baltimore metropolitan area, but this charming, historic mill town on the banks of the Patapsco River…
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Getting a Read on Radon Through Participatory Research: How a Community’s Questions Shed Light on Indoor Air Quality in Denver
A home is supposed to be a refuge – a safe place to rest in a busy, unpredictable world. But what do we do when home doesn’t feel so safe – when you find out…
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Assessing Flooding and Hydrodynamics for Community Revitalization | Climate | Creating community through neighborhood environment monitoring | Designing Bioswales for Improved Air Quality, Serenity and Reduced Flood Risk | Measuring and Monitoring the Effects of Greening on the Urban Heat Island Effect, Water Uptake, and Social Challenges | Modeling Environmental Health Impacts of I-10 to Engage Residents and Decision Makers | Natural Hazards | Natural Resources
Images of Change
During AGU’s 2021 Fall Meeting in New Orleans, we were honored to meet many community members who are working to make the region’s neighborhoods healthier, more connected and more resilient. Here’s a glimpse of what…
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Addressing the Public Health Effect of Well Water Contamination by Naturally Occurring Uranium | Uncategorized
A Dedicated Team and a Deep Well of Data: Uncovering the Mystery of Uranium in Glastonbury, Connecticut
When Glastonbury, Connecticut’s health officials and town leadership suspected uranium contamination in residential wells, they partnered with Thriving Earth Exchange to investigate. The project uncovered key information the town needed to advise residents, summed up in a thorough report written with the community in mind – all amid the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. What’s in your water? Glastonbury, a…
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Community Insights: Seeking Quiet, Residents Question a Quarry
Nestled between the Cascade Mountains and the Pacific Coast, Clark County, Washington, is a largely rural, forested area rich in both natural beauty and natural resources. Outdoor enthusiasts are drawn to the sweeping river views…
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Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions and American Bar Association Section of Environment, Energy & Resources
Supplementing this project work, FACS acquired pro-bono legal support through the ABA-SEER/Thriving Earth Exchange partnership to develop a legal brief on the use of public rights away for the installation of solar or other renewable…
