Establishing an indoor air quality monitor library lending program

Acerca de la Comunidad

Indoor Air Care Advocates (IACA) is a group of concerned parents who have worked extensively in advocating for indoor air quality in Alabama. We currently have 75 members in Alabama. We have also worked with many individuals and organizations within and outside Alabama, including the University of Alabama in Huntsville, Alabama Asthma Coalition, AARP, American Health Care Association (AHCA/NCAL), and Arizona State University.

We have had opportunities to bring this issue up to policymakers by giving presentations to the Madison City and County Schools system and writing letters to the Alabama State Department of Education, Alabama Department of Public Health, and our Members of Congress.

The Project as it was Planned

The community would like to establish a community lending program for indoor air quality monitors to parents, guardians, and teachers to equip them with data and evidence and raise awareness for indoor air quality issues. This will be done by procuring indoor air quality monitors, working with local libraries to create kiosks, lending kits, and raising awareness among parents by organizing presentations and local forums. 

Activities

• Support student STEM opportunities (e.g., school events, projects) through indoor air quality monitor lending
• Deploy indoor air quality monitors and interactive displays
• Establish a learning kiosk in an Alabama library
• Advertise the availability of the kits and locations of kit lending areas
• Host community forums, meetings and lectures indoor air quality (IAQ) presentations for schools and higher learning and indoor air quality scientists and experts (e.g., kick-off activity in the library, school STEM activities, leading the school air quality task force for the Alabama Asthma Coalition)

Actors

• IACA members
• Alabama library TBD  
• Library administrators
• Volunteer scientist(s)
• Indoor air quality expert(s)

Outputs

• A kit that contains indoor air quality (CO2 and PM) monitors available for lending via the collaborating library and other partners
• Lectures and forums on indoor air quality awareness
• Reports and one-pagers to share with parents and the general public

Outcomes

• Spark general awareness and education, especially for parents and teachers, towards better indoor air quality especially in classrooms

Impacto

• More parents and community members will:
  • understand the effect of indoor air quality on their children’s performance, and be more vocal and active in expressing concerns about indoor air quality
  • exercise more awareness and autonomy in expressing concerns about indoor air quality
  • make informed daily decisions related to health in indoor spaces

The Project as it Happened

Activities

• We hit some administrative roadblocks in securing a “permanent” spot for the kits in the original library that the team had intended to deploy the kits, so we had to do a larger outreach to other county school systems outside Madison. There were two successful leads – Huntsville and Perry Counties.
• We also instead followed organic leads, e.g., interested STEM teachers, organizations, martial arts center. 
• The team participated in many STEM tabling events and deploy the kits this way.
• The team is currently helping a tenth grade student with his indoor air project. 
• Because of generous funding from AGU, we were able to extend the project (see description under “Actors” below).
• The team now has (6) standing indoor air quality monitor kits, and many brochures and educational materials that they bring during outreach and tabling.

Actors

• Through extended outreach, we have been able to find a volunteer indoor air expert scientist, and she is also still interested to stay on the project and continue volunteering with the IACA team.
• We also found a pro-bono science team from the firm PSE Healthy Energy who are willing to guide the extension of the program (e.g., procurement of PM2.5 sensors to add to the currently existing indoor air quality kits).
• Capacity Collaborative has also been helpful to the IACA team.
• The team has been working with the Alabama Asthma Coalition
• Outside collaborators, such as school county administrators, library administrators, nonprofit leaders have all been cooperative and generous in giving the team the space and time to introduce the CO2 kit.

Outputs

• (6) complete indoor air quality monitor kits
• Educational playing cards (“Pathogen Pals”) and one-pager brochures, e.g.,
• One-pager submitted to PSE Healthy Energy for the plan of the project extension
• Various presentations to different audiences, e.g., students at University of Alabama Huntsville
• Invitation to participate in a Community Science panel in AGU 2024
• Poster for presentation in AGU 2024
• Posts and updates in the IACA website: https://www.iaqadvocates.org/ 

Outcomes and Impacts

• A kit that is readily available for lending is beneficial for the communities, especially parents who are looking for additional evidence to make the case that the air in classrooms should be cleaner
• The project was very aligned with the expertise of our volunteer scientist who had previously worked on indoor air in Georgia. She was able to give feedback and provide her expertise, helping the team in the modeling as well as providing sound scientific advise such that the experiments or data collection are efficient and accurate.

Líderes comunitarios

Michael Bailey is a Co-Founder of Indoor Air Care Advocates and a father of three. Using his background as a malware reverse engineer, he adopts a “research Dad” method, simplifying complex data to engage stakeholders. Additionally, Michael serves on  the Pew Charitable Trusts advisory committee, focusing on improving indoor air quality in US  K-12 schools.

Tara Bailey is a devoted mother of three and passionate advocate focused on enhancing indoor air quality in K-12 schools as a Co-Founder of Indoor Air Care Advocates. She also works to promote government transparency and civic engagement initiatives, striving for healthier educational environments and empowered communities.

Jennifer Yarbrough is a Co-Founder of Indoor Air Care Advocates and a passionate advocate for clean air in schools and public spaces. She is a loving mother of three with a background in advertising, marketing, and academic administration support. Dedicated to elevating indoor air quality standards in US K-12 schools, she applies her expertise in marketing to drive impactful change and healthier learning environments nationwide.

Becario científico comunitario

Dr. Colleen Rosales is a Thriving Earth Exchange Community Fellow and serves as the Project Manager for this project. She has a background in indoor and atmospheric air pollution research and is the Strategic Partnerships Director for the nonprofit organization OpenAQ, which fights air inequality by providing universal and open access to air quality data worldwide.

Volunteer Scientist

Dr. Azin Eftekhari, our volunteer scientist for this project, holds degrees in Chemical and Environmental Engineering and has over 10 years of experience in indoor air pollution, atmospheric pollution, and exposure to environmental pollutants. During her postdoc at the Georgia Institute of Technology (2022-2023), she worked on a similar project utilizing low-cost sensors in a public school near Atlanta, GA. She is currently a Research Collaborator at the Environmental Sciences and Engineering Department of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Gillings School of Global Public Health and a Process Safety Engineer at Victaulic Company.