Monica Diane Ramirez-Andreotta

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Courses

Scholarly Contributions

Chapters

• Brusseau, M. L., Ramirez, M. D., & Maximillian, J. (2019). Chapter 26 Environmental Impacts on Human Health and Well-Being.. In Environmental and Pollution Science. Elsevier.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2019). Chapter 5: Engaging with Ethnically Diverse Community Groups.. In Environmental Health Literacy. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-94108-0
• Ramirez, M. D. (2019). Environmental Health, Community Engagement, and Environmental Justice. In Environmental and Pollution Science, 3rd Edition.

Journals/Publications

• Alqattan, Z. A., Chukwuonye, G. N., Tinerella, C., Jones, M., & Ramírez-Andreotta, M. D. (2026). Compounding hazards posed by wildfires, flooding, and resource extraction: Assessing multimedia metal(loid) exposures and risk in rural, southwestern U.S. Populations. Environment international, 207, 110034.
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  Understanding the extent of contamination due to climatic events in rural areas is necessary to protect environmental health, especially when these spaces disproportionately bear the burden of resource extraction. Using a Monte Carlo-based probabilistic assessment, this study investigates how wildfire and subsequent flooding influences As, Cd, Cu, Cr, Pb, Mn, Ni, and Zn exposure from non-residential sediment and residential soil and indoor/outdoor dust. Carcinogenic/cumulative target cancer risk (TCR) and noncarcinogenic/cumulative hazard index (HI) were evaluated across multiple exposure pathways and scenarios (residential, nonresidential) for children and adults in rural, Arizona communities. In residential settings, flooding significantly increased (p ≤ 0.05) Pb and Cu surface soil concentrations. In both populations, HI > 1, while TCR falls within the tolerable U.S.EPA risk threshold. The mean HI > 1 was driven by As, Cu, and Mn in outdoor dust followed by Pb and Zn in soil. Arsenic incidental ingestion and to a lesser degree Pb from residential outdoor dust was the prominent exposure pathway, leading to 1.6 cancer cases for every 10,000 children, whereas an adult's exposure/associated risk was dominated by soil. Outdoor dust led to an unacceptable carcinogenic risk for children and cleanup efforts are imperative. Children growing up in rural, southwestern resource extraction communities experiencing climate extremes are bearing the burden, facing increased health risks. When navigating climatic challenges in rural, resource extraction regions, community-centered environmental research translation and nature-based solutions are critical to mitigating environmental exposures and associated health risks.
• Alqattan, Z. A., Trahan, A., Chukwuonye, G. N., Jones, M., & Ramírez-Andreotta, M. D. (2025). Lead source apportionment and climatic impacts in rural environmental justice mining communities. Environmental research, 271, 121130.
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  After a sequence of natural disasters in Gila County, Arizona, USA environmental justice (EJ), mining areas, community members raised concerns about metal(loid)s exposure and origin. To address these concerns, non-residential sediments (0-2 cm, 2-15 cm, and 15-30 cm), household soil (0-2 cm), and indoor and outdoor dust samples were analyzed for metal(loid)s concentration and Pb isotopes via inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. To identify the potential sources of Pb, 37 studies were considered, and 21 different Pb isotopic ratios were documented and compared. Spearman's correlation and principal component analysis were used to investigate the co-occurrence of metal(loid)s associated with Pb. The results demonstrated a clear association (p 
• Chukwuonye, G. N., Brinks, T., Kilungo, A., & Ramirez-Andreotta, M. D. (2025).

  Metal(loid) concentrations in drinking water and public perception of water quality in the Arizona–Mexico border

  . Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences.
• Chukwuonye, G. N., Palawat, K., Root, R. A., Cortez, L. I., Foley, T., Carella, V., Beck, C., & Ramírez-Andreotta, M. D. (2025). Using the pollution load index to evaluate rooftop harvested rainwater metal(loid) contamination in environmental justice communities. Environmental research, 284, 122187.
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  Water scarcity poses a significant public health crisis exacerbated by climate change-induced disruptions to freshwater sources. Rainwater harvesting offers a sustainable solution by harnessing rooftop runoff for domestic use. This study analyzed 577 rooftop-harvested rainwater (RHRW) samples from four Arizona, USA environmental justice communities and 162 control samples from five National Atmospheric Deposition Program wet-only deposition collection sites across Arizona. The samples were tested for metal(loid)s, and the pollution load index (PLI) and Nemerow Integrated Pollution Index (NIPI) were used to assess contamination. The PLI was calculated for 11 known contaminants (As, Pb, Cd, Mn, Al, Cr, Cu, Zn, Ni, Ba, and Be), with the highest contamination factor observed for Ni (1340). PLI levels ranged from 0.118 to 65.8, with the active mining community Globe-Miami showing the highest range (0.244-65.8). The PLI was significantly greater during the monsoon season than during the winter season for all the communities (p 
• Palawat, K., & Ramírez-Andreotta, M. D. (2025). Plant and soil contaminant modeling paired with risk-based soil screening levels and ingestion rates for home gardening in environmental justice communities. Journal of environmental management, 394, 127515.
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  Pollution is ubiquitous and poses substantial health risks for environmental justice (EJ) communities via growing and eating contaminated plants. Using community and citizen science frameworks, we collected and analyzed 435 soils and 997 plants for metal(loid) concentrations in 10 communities facing contamination in the United States. Linear mixed models showed that community was a major driver of soil contamination, plant contamination, and bioconcentration factors. Plant category contamination trends were not consistent across all contaminants, but generally, herbs, tree leaves, brassica vegetables, and leafy vegetables had the highest contamination while fruits and fruiting vegetables had the lowest. Leafy vegetables, herbs, flowers, and tree leaves had high bioconcentration factors, while fruits and fruiting vegetables were typically lower. Estimated risk-based screening levels indicated that existing soil screening levels can generally protect against negative health effects from growing food in contaminated soil but may not be strict enough to protect against risks from arsenic, nickel, barium, and copper exposures. Based on EJ community metal(loid) concentrations observed in this study, estimated risk-based ingestion rates indicated that generally, tree leaves, herbs, flowers, and brassica vegetables should be consumed at the lowest rates due to their high potential arsenic contamination. For a target arsenic cancer risk of 10, risk-based ingestion rates ranged from 0.13 g day for tree leaves to 3.8 g day for fruiting vegetables. Focusing on individual behavior changes and increased governmental regulation ignores root causes of pollution: capitalism and colonialism. Collective action and anti-colonial science are necessary to achieve EJ.
• Palawat, K., & Ramírez-Andreotta, M. D. (2025). Pollution is ubiquitous: Community-based quantitative human health risk assessment of metal(loid) exposure from contaminated garden plants and soils. Ecotoxicology and environmental safety, 298, 118314.
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  Communities across the world are attempting to practice food sovereignty, yet metal(loid) contamination of gardens may restrict one's right to define their own relationship to the environment. To understand the human health risks associated with growing and eating plants in environmental justice communities, we aggregated environmental monitoring data at 231 sites from 10 participatory research projects. Using a Bayesian quantitative risk assessment, we simulated cancer and non-cancer health risks of ingesting garden soil and crops, and simulated a comparison to the U.S Food and Drug Administration's Total Diet Study (TDS) of conventionally-grown produce. Median hazard index (HI) - (sum of risks from 17 analytes and 20 exposure routes) - and increased excess lifetime cancer risks (IELCR) - (4 analytes, 20 exposure routes) - were 2.38 and 6.53 × 10 (6.53 out of 10,000) respectively. Key findings were that arsenic, manganese, copper, and barium contributed most to HI, at 29 %, 19 %, 11 %, and 9 % contribution respectively, while arsenic contributed most to IELCR at 95 % contribution. Collard greens, kale, turnip, radish, berries, string beans, cucumber, and squash had the highest risks. Community risks were slightly higher than TDS risks, except for nickel IELCRs. Consuming either home-grown produce or TDS produce poses substantial health risks. However, home-grown produce also contained higher levels of nutrients than TDS produce. Potential health benefits from gardening and eating home-grown produce, as well as an anti-colonial exposure assessment should be studied further. Individual action is not enough to protect human health; root causes of contamination such as industrialization and colonization must be addressed.
• Palawat, K., Abrell, L. M., Jones, C. K., Kilungo, A., Mclain, J. E., Root, R. A., & Ramirez, M. D. (2025).

  Arizona rooftop harvested rainwater: How clean is it? 

  . University of Arizona Cooperative Extension, AZ 2112.
• Walls, D., Rodríguez-Oroz, D., Root, R. A., Chukwuonye, G. N., Alqattan, Z. A., Kinchy, A., Ureta, S., Engel-Di Mauro, S., & Ramírez-Andreotta, M. D. (2025). Low-cost screening method for estimating inorganic arsenic in soil. Environmental science and pollution research international, 32(10), 6027-6040.
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  People facing pollution do not always have the resources needed to investigate their environment for harmful contaminants. In this paper, we report on a low-cost, accessible method to screen soil for inorganic arsenic, a substance associated with a growing list of acute and chronic diseases. The method adapts a commercial water test kit, which measures inorganic arsenic between 0 and 500 µg L on a quantitative, discrete color scale. We evaluated two extraction solutions in determining bioaccessible and total inorganic arsenic. We characterized soil samples and standards containing total arsenic between 0.8 and 3240 mg kg (n = 151) with the screening methodology and established laboratory methods. While the total screening method requires additional investigation, we propose the bioaccessible screening method for two purposes. First, it estimates in vitro bioaccessible assay (IVBA) arsenic ( , ) to provide physiological insight. Second, it estimates a predicted minimum amount of total arsenic to compare to regulatory soil levels. Screening measurements above 82.5 and 132.0 µg L are predicted to exceed the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (AZDEQ) and New York Department of Environmental Conservation (NYDEC) regulatory soil levels: 10 and 16 mg kg, respectively. False positives are almost entirely avoided, while the occurrence of false negatives increases approaching the predicted thresholds. Screening measurements in the ranges [0, 10), [10, 25), and [25, threshold] µg L were false negatives (false omission rate) 0, 18.8, and 81.4% (AZDEQ) and 0, 8.7, and 68.5% (NYDEC) of the time, respectively. Our analysis supports screening total arsenic to at least as low as 8.5 mg kg.
• Alqattan, Z. A., Artiola, J. F., Walls, D., & Ramírez-Andreotta, M. D. (2024). Evaluating the portable X-ray fluorescence reliability for metal(loid)s detection and soil contamination status. Environmental monitoring and assessment, 196(8), 765.
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  Marginalized communities experience barriers that can prevent soil monitoring efforts and knowledge transfer. To address this challenge, this study compared two analytical methods: portable X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (pXRF, less time, cost) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS, "gold standard"). Surface soil samples were collected from residential sites in Arizona, USA (N = 124) and public areas in Troy, New York, USA (N = 33). Soil preparation differed between groups to account for community practice. Statistical calculations were conducted, paired t test, Bland-Altman plot, and a two-way ANOVA indicated no significant difference for As, Ba, Ca, Cu, Mn, Pb, and Zn concentrations except for Ba in the t test. Iron, Ni, Cr, and K were statistically different for Arizona soils and V, Ni, Fe, and Al concentrations were statistically different for New York soils. Zinc was the only element with high R and low p value. Pollution load index (PLI), enrichment factors (EF), and geo-accumulation index (I) were calculated for both methods using U.S. Geological Survey data. The PLI were > 1, indicating soil pollution in the two states. Between pXRF and ICP-MS, the I and EF in Arizona had similar degree of contamination for most elements except Zn in garden and Pb in yard, respectively. For New York, the I of As, Cu, and Zn differed by only one classification index between the two methods. The pXRF was reliable in determining As, Ba, Ca, Cu, Mn, Pb, and Zn in impacted communities. Therefore, the pXRF can be a cost-effective alternative to using ICP-MS techniques to screen soil samples for several environmentally relevant contaminants to protect environmental public health.
• Chukwuonye, G. N., Alqattan, Z. A., Jones, M., Jones, C., Brusseau, M. L., & Ramírez-Andreotta, M. D. (2024). Toxic layering and compound extremes: Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) exposure in rural, environmental justice copper mining communities. The Science of the total environment, 957, 177767.
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  Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are pervasive environmental pollutants with significant impacts on ecosystems and public health. This study aimed to characterize PFAS concentrations in an environmental justice community impacted by active/legacy copper mining, compounded by wildfires and flash floods. Additionally, the study explored the (re)mobilization of PFAS and co-occurrence with metal(loid)s following these events. Twenty-eight PFAS compounds in 35 residential and 8 control surface soil samples were analyzed via liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LCMS/MS). The maximum total PFAS concentration observed in the residential samples was 96.40 μg kg, compared to 1.69 μgkg in the control samples. Perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA) had a maximum concentration of 61 μg kg in residential samples, while Perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS) had the highest concentration in the control samples at 0.92 μg kg. Long-chain PFAS were most dominant in this study. Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) (58 % of the samples), Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) (35 %), and Perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS) (72 %) exceeded the U.S. EPA Soil-to-Groundwater Risk-Based Screening Levels, highlighting the potential risk of contaminants migrating from soil to groundwater, which could ultimately impact groundwater quality. Co-occurrence analysis showed that increases in PFAS concentrations were positively associated with Zn (β = 1.25, p = 0.0034) and Ba (β = 1.23, p = 0.0284) but negatively associated with Pb (β = -0.83, p = 0.0115) and Co (β = -1.38, p = 0.04671). In general, a spatial distribution map indicated that greater PFAS concentrations were observed near potential sources i.e., active mines. This evidence combined with select metal co-occurrence highlights the potential role of mining activities on PFAS concentration.
• Morales, A. A., Huerta, D., & Ramírez-Andreotta, M. D. (2024). Children's Exposure Factors and Risk Perception of Sanitation Challenges Along the U.S.-Mexico Border. Journal of borderlands studies.
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  In the rural U.S. - Mexico border towns, transboundary sanitary sewage overflows (SSOs) are of concern. The high concentrations of pathogens present in SSOs poses a threat to the shared ecosystem and communities' health and well-being. Concerns related to an SSO effluent situated adjacent to a school in Naco, Arizona led to a academic-government-school partnership to assess children's exposure factors, environment and health related risk perceptions, and risk communication preferences. A survey administered to school staff (n=9 and parents (n=31) observed a lower hand/object-to-mouth behavior for children ages 4-6 compared to values in the literature, and the need to further assess exposure factors for children over six. While there was a general negative risk perception to SSOs, approximately half of respondents did not have/were not sure of any SSO related events. Using Bioregion/One Health and cross-border governance frameworks, this study highlights the governing barriers that exist during SSO events and underscores the need for community participation, effective intervention, and risk communication strategies.
• Alqattan, Z. A., Artiola, J. F., Walls, D., & Ramírez-Andreotta, M. D. (2023). Evaluating the Portable X-ray Fluorescence Reliability for Metal(loid)s Detection and Soil Contamination Status. Research square.
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  Environmental Justice (EJ) communities may experience barriers that can prevent soil monitoring efforts and knowledge transfer. To address this gap, this study compared two analytical methods: portable X-ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy (pXRF, less time and costs) and Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS, "gold standard"). Surface soil samples were collected from yards and gardens in three counties in Arizona, USA (N=124) and public areas in Troy, New York, USA (N=33). Statistical calculations, i.e., two-sample t-tests, Bland-Altman plots, and a two-way ANOVA indicated no significant difference for As, Ba, Ca, Cu, Mn, Pb, and Zn concentrations except for Ba in the two-sample t-test. Iron, Ni, Cr, and K were statistically different for Arizona soils and V, Ni, Fe and Al concentrations were statistically different for New York soils. To assess the degree of contamination, a pollution load index (PLI), enrichment factors (EF), and geo-accumulation index () were calculated for both methods using U.S. Geological Survey soils data. The PLI were >1, indicating pollution across the two states. Between pXRF and ICP-MS, the and EF in Arizona had similar degree of soil contamination for most elements except Zn in garden and Pb in yard, respectively. In New York, the of As, Cu, and Zn differed by an order of magnitude between the two methods. The results of this study demonstrate that pXRF is a reliable method for the inexpensive and rapid analysis of As, Ba, Ca, Cu, Mn, Pb, and Zn. Thus, EJ communities may use pXRF to screen large numbers of soil samples for several environmentally relevant contaminants to protect environmental public health.
• Huerta, D., Schobel, T., Alexander-Ozinskas, A., Hild, J., Lauder, J., Reynolds, P., Von Behren, J., Meltzer, D., & Ramírez-Andreotta, M. D. (2023). Probabilistic risk assessment of residential exposure to metal(loid)s in a mining impacted community. The Science of the total environment, 872, 162228.
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  The "Gold Country" region of California is impacted by legacy and active gold mines. Concomitantly, Gold Country has an increased rate of female breast cancer relative to the state average. Using community-based participatory research methods, 40 participants completed surveys and collected a total of 354 water, soil, home-grown foods, and dust samples from their homes, which we compared to state, federal, and international contamination standards for arsenic, cadmium, and lead. All soil samples exceeded U.S. EPA and California EPA soil standards for arsenic. When comparing other media to state, federal and international standards for arsenic, cadmium, and lead, 15 additional exceedances for indoor/outdoor dust, drinking water, and/or vegetable were documented. A probabilistic risk assessment was conducted to determine an adult female's exposure to arsenic, cadmium, and lead and estimated risk. Arsenic exposure, due largely to water (63.5 %) and homegrown food (33.3 %), presents carcinogenic risks in excess of the EPA recommended upper limit for contaminated sites (1 × 10) in 12.5 % of scenarios, and exceeds a risk level of 1 × 10 in 98.0 % of cases. Cadmium exposure results mainly from homegrown food consumption (83.7 %), and lead exposure results from a broader range of sources. This research indicates that rural areas in Gold Country face environmental exposures different than in urban areas. Exposure to arsenic in the female population of Gold Country may be driven by consumption of home-grown foods and water, and exposure to cadmium is driven by home-grown food intake. Since mining sites are of concern internationally, this risk assessment process and associated findings are significant and can be used to inform and tailor public health interventions. The weight of the evidence suggests that the arsenic exposure identified in this study could contribute to increases in the cancer rate among those living in Gold Country, California.
• Moses, A., Ramírez-Andreotta, M. D., McLain, J. E., Cortez, L. I., & Kilungo, A. (2023). Assessing the impact of rainwater harvesting infrastructure and gardening trends on microbial indicator organism presence in harvested rainwater and garden soils. Journal of applied microbiology, 134(6).
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  To assess the microbial water quality of harvested rainwater infrastructure used to supplement household water uses for homegrown produce.
• Moses, A., Ramírez-Andreotta, M. D., McLain, J. E., Obergh, V., Rutin, E., Sandhaus, S., & Kilungo, A. P. (2023). The efficacy of hydrogen sulfide (HS) tests for detecting microbial contamination in rooftop-harvested rainwater. Environmental monitoring and assessment, 195(11), 1398.
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  As climate change strains the world's freshwater resources, access to safe and clean water becomes limited. The use of alternative water sources, such as rooftop-harvested rainwater, has become one mechanism to address freshwater scarcity in the American Southwest, particularly when it comes to home gardening. The University of Arizona's Project Harvest, in partnership with the Sonora Environmental Research Institute, Inc., is a multi-year, co-created citizen science project aimed at increasing current understanding of harvested rainwater quality. Citizens in four Arizona, USA, communities (Hayden/Winkelman, Globe/Miami, Dewey-Humboldt, and Tucson) submitted harvested rainwater samples over 3 years. The harvested rainwater samples were then analyzed using IDEXX Colilert® for total coliforms and E. coli and using Hach PathoScreen™ test for sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB). This study design allows for the validation of a low-cost, at-home alternative methodology for testing rainwater for bacteria that may indicate fecal contamination. In total, 226 samples were tested using both methodologies, revealing a positive correlation (r=0.245; p
• Palawat, K., Root, R. A., Cortez, L. I., Foley, T., Carella, V., Beck, C., & Ramírez-Andreotta, M. D. (2023). Patterns of contamination and burden of lead and arsenic in rooftop harvested rainwater collected in Arizona environmental justice communities. Journal of environmental management, 337, 117747.
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  As climate change exacerbates water scarcity, rainwater harvesting for household irrigation and gardening becomes an increasingly common practice. However, the use and quality of harvested rainwater are not well studied, and the potential pollutant exposures associated with its use are generally unknown. There are currently no federal standards in the United States to assess metal(loid)s in harvested rainwater. Project Harvest, a community science research project, was created to address this knowledge gap and study the quality of harvested rainwater, primarily used for irrigation, in four environmental justice communities in Arizona, USA. Community scientists collected 577 unique rooftop harvested rainwater samples from 2017 to 2020, which were analyzed for metal(loid)s, where arsenic (As) concentrations ranged from 0.108 to 120 μg L and lead (Pb) concentrations ranged from 0.013 to 350 μg L and compared to relevant federal/state standards/recommendations. Community As and Pb concentrations decreased as: Hayden/Winkelman > Tucson > Globe/Miami > Dewey-Humboldt. Linear mixed models were used to analyze rooftop harvested rainwater data and results indicated that concentrations of As and Pb in the summer monsoon were significantly greater than winter; and contamination was significantly greater closer to extractive industrial sites in three of the four study communities (ASARCO Hayden Plant Superfund Alternative site in Hayden/Winkelman, Davis-Monthan United States Air Force Base in Tucson - Pb only, and Freeport McMoRan Copper and Gold Mine in Globe/Miami). Based on models, infrastructure such as proximity to roadway, roof material, presence of a cistern screen, and first-flush systems were not significant with respect to As and Pb when controlling for relevant spatiotemporal variables; whereas, cistern age was associated with Pb concentrations. These results however, indicate that concentrations vary seasonally and by proximity to industrial activity, not by decisions made regarding collection system infrastructures at the individual home level. This study shows that generally, individuals are not responsible for environmental contamination of rooftop harvested rainwater, rather activities and decisions of government and corporate industries control contaminant release.
• Palawat, K., Root, R. A., Cruz, L. I., Foley, T., Carella, V., Beck, C., & Ramírez-Andreotta, M. (2023). Dissolved arsenic and lead concentrations in rooftop harvested rainwater: Community generated dataset. Data in brief, 48, 109255.
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  Here, we detail arsenic (As) and lead (Pb) concentrations in community science generated rooftop harvested rainwater data from Project Harvest (PH), a co-created community science study, and National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NADP) National Trends Network wet-deposition AZ samples as analyzed by Palawat et al. [1]. 577 field samples were collected in PH and 78 field samples were collected by NADP. All samples were analyzed via inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) for dissolved metal(loid)s including As and Pb by the Arizona Laboratory for Emerging Contaminants after 0.45 um filtration and acidification. Method limits of detection (MLOD) were assessed and sample concentrations above MLODs were considered detects. Summary statistics and box and whisker plots were generated to assess variables of interest such as community and sampling window. Finally, As and Pb data is provided for potential reuse; the data can be used to assess contamination of harvested rainwater in AZ and to inform community use of natural resources.
• Shakya, A., Dodson, M., Artiola, J. F., Ramirez-Andreotta, M., Root, R. A., Ding, X., Chorover, J., & Maier, R. M. (2023). Arsenic in Drinking Water and Diabetes. Water, 15(9).
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  Arsenic is ubiquitous in soil and water environments and is consistently at the top of the Agency for Toxic Substances Disease Registry (ATSDR) substance priority list. It has been shown to induce toxicity even at low levels of exposure. One of the major routes of exposure to arsenic is through drinking water. This review presents current information related to the distribution of arsenic in the environment, the resultant impacts on human health, especially related to diabetes, which is one of the most prevalent chronic diseases, regulation of arsenic in drinking water, and approaches for treatment of arsenic in drinking water for both public utilities and private wells. Taken together, this information points out the existing challenges to understanding both the complex health impacts of arsenic and to implementing the treatment strategies needed to effectively reduce arsenic exposure at different scales.
• Villagómez-Márquez, N., Abrell, L., Foley, T., & Ramírez-Andreotta, M. D. (2023). Organic micropollutants measured in roof-harvested rainwater from rural and urban environmental justice communities in Arizona. The Science of the total environment, 876, 162662.
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  Due to global water scarcity and population growth, multiple solutions are needed to conserve and collect water, especially in arid and semi-arid regions of the planet. As the practice of harvesting rainwater grows, it is important to assess the quality of roof-harvested rainwater (RHRW). This study measured twelve organic micropollutants (OMPs) in RHRW samples collected between 2017 and 2020 by community scientists, with approximately two hundred RHRW samples and corresponding field blank analyzed annually. The OMPs analyzed were atrazine, pentachlorophenol (PCP), chlorpyrifos, 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), prometon, simazine, carbaryl, nonylphenol (NP), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorobutane sulfonic acid (PFBS), and perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA). OMP concentrations measured in RHRW were below the following existing standards: US EPA Primary Drinking Water Standard, Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) Partial Body Contact for Surface Waters, and ADEQ Full Body Contact for Surface Waters for analytes in this study. At the time the study was conducted, 28 % of RHRW samples exceeded the non-enforceable US EPA Lifetime Health Advisory (HA) of 70 ng L for the combined sum of PFOS and PFOA with a mean exceedance concentration of 189 ng L. When comparing PFOA and PFOS to the June 15, 2022 interim updated HAs of 0.004 ng L and 0.02 ng L, respectively, all samples exceeded these values. No RHRW samples exceeded the final proposed HA of 2000 ng L for PFBS. The limited number of state and federal standards established for the contaminants highlighted in this study indicate potential regulatory gaps and that users need to be aware that OMPs may be present in RHRW. Based on these concentrations, domestic activities and intended uses should be carefully considered.
• Zeider, K., Manjón, I., Betterton, E. A., Sáez, A. E., Sorooshian, A., & Ramírez-Andreotta, M. D. (2023). Backyard aerosol pollution monitors: foliar surfaces, dust enrichment, and factors influencing foliar retention. Environmental monitoring and assessment, 195(10), 1200.
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  Air pollution is one of the leading causes of death from noncommunicable diseases globally, and in Arizona, both mining activities and abandoned agriculture can generate erodible dust. This dust is transported via wind and can carry high amounts of toxic pollutants. Industry-adjacent communities, or "fenceline communities," are generally closer to the pollution sources and are disproportionally impacted by pollution, or in this case, dust. The dust transported from the mine settles into nearby rivers, gardens, and homes, and increases the concentrations of elements beyond their naturally occurring amounts (i.e., enriched). This study was built upon previous community science work in which plant leaves were observed to collect similar concentrations to an accepted dust collection method and illustrated promise for their use as low-cost air quality monitors in these communities. This work investigated the concentration of Na, Mg, Al, K, Ca, Mn, Co, Cu, Zn, Mo, and Ba in dust from the leaves of community-collected backyard and garden plants (foliar dust), as well as if certain variables affected collection efficacy. This assessment evaluated (1) foliar concentration versus surface area for 11 elements, (2) enrichment factor (EF) values and ratios, (3) comparisons of foliar, garden, and yard samples to US Geological Survey data, and (4) what variable significantly affected dust collection efficacy. The EF results indicate that many of the samples were enriched (anthropogenically contaminated) and that the foliar samples were generally more contaminated than the yard and garden soil samples. Leaf surface area was the most influential factor for leaf collection efficiency (p < 0.05) compared to plant family or sampling location. Further studies are needed that standardize the plant species and age and include multiple replicates of the same plant species across partnering communities. This study has demonstrated that foliar dust is enriched in the participating partnering communities and that plant leaf samples can serve as backyard aerosol pollution monitors. Therefore, foliar dust is a viable indicator of outdoor settled dust and aerosol contamination and this is an adoptable monitoring technique for "fenceline communities."
• Moses, A., Mclain, J. E., Kilungo, A. P., Root, R. A., Abrell, L. M., Buxner, S. R., Sandoval, F., Foley, T., Jones, M., & Ramirez, M. D. (2022). Minding the gap: socio-demographic factors linked to the perception of environmental pollution, water harvesting infrastructure, and gardening characteristics. Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences.
• Walls, D., Kinchy, A., Tal, M., Ramirez, M. D., & Engel-Di Mauro, S. (2022). Confronting Legacy Lead in Soils: Community-engaged Researchers Doing Undone Science. Environmental Science and Policy, 165-174.
• Davis, L. F., & Ramírez-Andreotta, M. D. (2021). Participatory Research for Environmental Justice: A Critical Interpretive Synthesis. Environmental health perspectives, 129(2), 26001.
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  Environmental health risks are disproportionately colocated with communities in poverty and communities of color. In some cases, participatory research projects have effectively addressed structural causes of health risk in environmental justice (EJ) communities. However, many such projects fail to catalyze change at a structural level.This publication was selected for Environmental Health Perspectives Editors’ Choice Collection 2021, January 2022. Available at: https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/curated-collections/eds-choice-2021
• Heusinkveld, D., Ramirez-Andreotta, M. D., Rodríguez-Chávez, T., Sáez, A. E., Betterton, E., & Rine, K. (2021). Assessing Children's Lead Exposure in an Active Mining Community Using the Integrated Exposure Uptake Biokinetic Model. Exposure and health, 13(3), 517-533.
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  Lead exposure has been shown to be harmful to humans in various settings and there are no safe levels of blood lead in children. At an Alternative Superfund site in Hayden-Winkelman, Arizona, with an active copper smelter and concentrator, lead exceedances in air and soil have been measured in the past 20 years. In this work, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Integrated Exposure Uptake Biokinetic (IEUBK) model was used to estimate Hayden-Winkelman children's (age 6 months-7 years) blood lead levels (BLLs) using site-specific lead concentrations measured in indoor and outdoor air, soil, indoor dust, and drinking water. Values used by a state agency's airborne lead risk forecast program were also evaluated to determine whether their forecasting program is useful in protecting children's public health. Using site-specific values in the model, the results demonstrated that lead ingested via indoor dust was the major contributor to children's BLLs. In addition, the output of the IEUBK model overestimated actual BLLs of children sampled in the community. The IEUBK model was particularly sensitive to high indoor dust levels, and these site-specific measures increased modeled BLL values. This finding is of significance as the IEUBK model is used worldwide in communities with industrial contamination. This study confirmed that the chief contributor to lead exposure in children is household dust. Thus, for lead exposure risk reduction, agencies working at Superfund sites should focus efforts on decontaminating outdoor soil and dust and indoor lead decontamination.
• Kaufmann, D. B., Hamidi, N., Palawat, K., & Ramirez-Andreotta, M. D. (2021). Ripple Effect: Communicating Water Quality Data through Sonic Vibrations. Association for Computing Machinery, 64, 1–7.
• Ramírez-Andreotta, M. D., Walls, R., Youens-Clark, K., Blumberg, K., Isaacs, K. E., Kaufmann, D., & Maier, R. M. (2021). Alleviating Environmental Health Disparities Through Community Science and Data Integration. Frontiers in sustainable food systems, 5.
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  Environmental contamination is a fundamental determinant of health and well-being, and when the environment is compromised, vulnerabilities are generated. The complex challenges associated with environmental health and food security are influenced by current and emerging political, social, economic, and environmental contexts. To solve these "wicked" dilemmas, disparate public health surveillance efforts are conducted by local, state, and federal agencies. More recently, citizen/community science (CS) monitoring efforts are providing site-specific data. One of the biggest challenges in using these government datasets, let alone incorporating CS data, for a holistic assessment of environmental exposure is data management and interoperability. To facilitate a more holistic perspective and approach to solution generation, we have developed a method to provide a common data model that will allow environmental health researchers working at different scales and research domains to exchange data and ask new questions. We anticipate that this method will help to address environmental health disparities, which are unjust and avoidable, while ensuring CS datasets are ethically integrated to achieve environmental justice. Specifically, we used a transdisciplinary research framework to develop a methodology to integrate CS data with existing governmental environmental monitoring and social attribute data (vulnerability and resilience variables) that span across 10 different federal and state agencies. A key challenge in integrating such different datasets is the lack of widely adopted ontologies for vulnerability and resiliency factors. In addition to following the best practice of submitting new term requests to existing ontologies to fill gaps, we have also created an application ontology, the Superfund Research Project Data Interface Ontology (SRPDIO).
• Rodriguez-chavez, T. B., Rine, K. P., Almusawi, R. M., O'brien-metzger, R., Ramirez-andreotta, M. D., Betterton, E. A., & Saez, A. E. (2021). Outdoor/Indoor Contaminant Transport by Atmospheric Dust and Aerosol at an Active Smelter Site. Water Air and Soil Pollution, 232(6), 1-14. doi:10.1007/s11270-021-05168-2
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  Activities associated with mining operations including smelting, ore handling, and mine tailings management have been identified as sources of dust and aerosol that may contain metal and metalloid contaminants, such as lead (Pb) and arsenic (As). Previous studies on contaminant transport have concentrated on the potential impact of these particulate emissions in outdoor environments. The purposes of this study were (i) to quantify the effect of dust and aerosol particle size on contaminant transport from outdoor-to-indoor environments and (ii) to document the changes in particle chemical composition during transport through the outdoor/indoor barrier. Outdoor and indoor particulate samples were collected at a high school equipped with mechanical air filtration systems from 2016 to 2019. The school is located near a set of mine tailings and an active copper smelter in Hayden, Arizona. Particle size segregated samples were collected using a ten-stage micro-orifice uniform deposit impactor (MOUDI). Results show that airborne fine particles (aerodynamic diameters less than 1 micron) can penetrate to the indoor environment but in a reduced amount due to mechanical filtration. Aerosol in the fine fraction particulate air concentrations was around 50% of the corresponding outdoor values, but their mass concentration of contaminants was similar to outdoor values. Indoor coarse particles (> 1 micron) comprised close to 20% of the levels found in outdoor coarse particles. These results highlight the need to consider the impact of particle diameter when assessing indoor exposure and potential health effects in communities living under the direct influence of mining and smelter activities.
• Zeider, K., Van Overmeiren, N., Rine, K. P., Sandhaus, S., Eduardo Sáez, A., Sorooshian, A., Muñoz, H. C., & Ramírez-Andreotta, M. D. (2021). Foliar surfaces as dust and aerosol pollution monitors: An assessment by a mining site. The Science of the total environment, 790, 148164.
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  Recent studies in the southwestern United States have shown that smelting processes and mine tailings emit heavy metal(loid)s that are distributed via wind dispersion to nearby communities. With increased attention regarding the effect of air pollution on environmental health, communities have begun to use citizen/community-based monitoring techniques to measure the concentration of metal(loid)s and evaluate their air quality. This study was conducted in a mining community to assess the efficacy of foliar surfaces as compared to an inverted disc (frisbee) to sample aerosol pollutants in ambient air. The assessment was conducted by evaluating As, Pb, Cd, Cu, Al, Ni, and Zn concentrations versus distance from a former smelter, statistical and regression analyses, and enrichment factor calculations compared to similar sites worldwide. Both the foliar and frisbee collection methods had a decrease in metal(loid)s concentration as a function of distance from the retired smelter. Statistical calculations show that the collection methods had similar mean concentrations for all of the metal(loid)s of interest; however, the tests also indicate that the frisbee collection method generally collected more dust than the foliar method. The enrichment factors from both collection methods were comparable to similar studies by other mining areas referenced, except for aluminum. Since there is evidence of enrichment, correlation between methods, and citizen/community science potential, these efforts show promise for the field. Further studies should consider alternating the types of plant used for foliar collection as well as collecting samples on a more frequent basis in order to sufficiently categorize results based on meteorological conditions.This publication was selected as an:- NIEHS Extramural Paper of the Month, October 2021, https://factor.niehs.nih.gov/2021/10/papers/dert/index.htm - NIEHS 2021 Papers of the year, January 2022, https://factor.niehs.nih.gov/2022/1/papers/papers-of-the-year/index.htm
• Davis, L. F., Ramirez, M. D., & Buxner, S. R. (2020). Engaging Diverse Citizen Scientists for Environmental Health: Recommendations from Participants and Promotoras. Citizen Science: Theory and Practice, 5(1), 1–27. doi:https://doi.org/10.5334/cstp.253
• Kaufmann, D., & Ramirez, M. D. (2020). Communicating the environmental health risk assessment process: formative evaluation and increasing comprehension through visual design. Journal of Risk Research, 23(9), 1177-1194. doi:10.1080/13669877.2019.1628098
• Manjon, I., & Ramirez, M. D. (2020). A dietary assessment tool to estimate arsenic and cadmium exposures from locally grown foods. Environmental Geochemistry and Health, 42, 2121–2135. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-019-00486-1
• Manjon, I., Ramirez, M. D., Saez, A. E., Root, R. A., Hils, J., Janes, K., & Alexander-Ozinskas, A. (2020). Ingestion and inhalation of metal(loid)s through preschool gardening: An exposure and risk assessment in legacy mining communities. Science of the Total Environment, 718(134639). doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.134639
• Manjón, I., Ramírez-Andreotta, M. D., Sáez, A. E., Root, R. A., Hild, J., Janes, M. K., & Alexander-Ozinskas, A. (2020). Environmental monitoring and exposure science dataset to calculate ingestion and inhalation of metal(loid)s through preschool gardening. Data in brief, 29, 105050.
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  Metal(loid) contamination may pose an increased risk of exposure to children residing near legacy and active resource extraction sites. Children may be exposed to arsenic, cadmium, and/or lead by ingestion and/or inhalation while engaging in school or home outdoor activities via environmental media including water, soil, dust, and locally grown produce. It is thus critical to collect site-specific data to best assess these risks. This data article provides gastric and lung bioaccessibility assay (IVBA) data, as well as environmental monitoring data for water, soil, dust, and garden produce collected from preschools (N = 4) in mining communities throughout Nevada County, California in 2018. Arsenic, cadmium, and lead concentrations in the aforementioned media and synthetic gastric and lung fluids were measured by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). This dataset provides useful metal(loid) concentrations for future risk assessments for similar settings.
• Root, R. A., Root, R. A., Mclain, J. E., Mclain, J. E., Kilungo, A. P., Kilungo, A. P., Abrell, L. M., Abrell, L. M., Ramirez, M. D., & Ramirez, M. D. (2019). Partnering for action: community monitoring of harvested rainwater in underserved, rural, and urban Arizona communities. Water Resources IMPACT.
• Hard, H. R., Brusseau, M., & Ramirez-Andreotta, M. (2019). Assessing the feasibility of using a closed landfill for agricultural graze land. Environmental monitoring and assessment, 191(7), 458.
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  Once landfills are closed and maintained according to the US Environmental Protection Agency's standards and regulations, they are potential sites for revitalization efforts, particularly via agricultural activities. This project was commissioned by the City of Tucson Environmental Services Department as part of an effort to explore ways to reuse one or more of the 16 landfills the department manages in the Tucson metropolitan area. The objective of this project was to assess the feasibility of using a closed landfill to support safe goat browsing. A site history and investigation was conducted at the Harrison Landfill in Tucson, Arizona, to characterize the soil quality and uptake of deleterious metals by the following plants observed at the landfill: Pennisetum ciliare (buffel grass), Baccharis sarothroides (desert broom), Salsola tragus L. (Russian thistle), Larrea tridentata (creosote), Tamarix ramosissima (salt cedar), and Atriplex canescens (fourwing saltbush). Site characterization data were combined with known goat browsing and plant consumption patterns to determine exposure risks. It was observed that soil concentrations of metals (Al, Ag, As, Be, Ba, Fe, Co, Cu, Cr, Cd, Fe, Mn, Ni, V, Se, Mo, Sn, Sb, Pb) did not exceed Arizona Department of Environmental Quality's soil remediation levels. Tamarix ramosissima, Baccharis salicifolia (willow baccharis), Pennisetum ciliare, Salsola tragus L., Baccharis sarothroides, Larrea tridentata, and Atriplex canescens contained metal concentrations that fell well within maximum tolerable levels. In general, this project determined that after soil and plant assessment, urban, arid landfills may be used effectively for economic development through agricultural grazing ventures.
• Kaufmann, D., & Ramirez-Andreotta, M. D. (2019). Communicating the environmental health risk assessment process: formative evaluation and increasing comprehension through visual design. JOURNAL OF RISK RESEARCH.
• Manjón, I., & Ramírez-Andreotta, M. (2019). A dietary assessment tool to estimate arsenic and cadmium exposures from locally grown foods. Environmental geochemistry and health.
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  Certain food products have been shown to accumulate arsenic (As) and cadmium (Cd) making it critical to monitor individual's intake, particularly when they live near sources of environmental contamination. After a literature review, a novel dietary assessment was conducted to estimate a child's potential exposure to these metal(loid)s via consumption of locally grown foods in communities impacted by active or legacy resource extraction activities. Mean ingestion rates of As- and Cd-translocating crops belonging to the Asteraceae, Brassicaceae, Caricaceae, Amaranthaceae, Cucurbitaceae, Liliaceae, Solanaceae, Apiaceae, and Fabaceae plant families were calculated for children: 1 to
• Manjón, I., Ramírez-Andreotta, M. D., Sáez, A. E., Root, R. A., Hild, J., Janes, M. K., & Alexander-Ozinskas, A. (2019). Ingestion and inhalation of metal(loid)s through preschool gardening: An exposure and risk assessment in legacy mining communities. The Science of the total environment, 134639.
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  Children residing in mining towns are potentially disproportionately exposed to metal(loid)s via ingestion and dust inhalation, thus, increasing their exposure when engaging in school or home gardening or playing outside. This citizen science study assessed preschool children's potential arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), and lead (Pb) exposure via locally grown produce, water, incidental soil ingestion, and dust inhalation at four sites. Participants were trained to properly collect water, soil, and vegetable samples from their preschools in Nevada County, California. As, Cd, and Pb concentrations in irrigation sources did not exceed the U.S. EPA's maximum contaminant and action levels. In general, garden and playground As and Pb soil concentrations exceeded the U.S. EPA Regional Screening Level, CalEPA Human Health Screening Level, and California Department of Toxic Substances Control Screening Level. In contrast, all Cd concentrations were below these recommended screening levels. Dust samples (
• Ramirez, M. D. (2019). Assessing the feasibility of using a closed landfill for agricultural graze land. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2019). Public participation, trust and data sharing: gardens as hubs for citizen science and environmental health literacy efforts. International Journal of Science Education, Part B.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2019). Understanding the Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivations Associated with Community Gardening to Improve Environmental Public Health Prevention and Intervention. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.
• Ramirez, M. D., Abrell, L. M., Kilungo, A. P., Mclain, J. E., & Root, R. A. (2019). Partnering for action: community monitoring of harvested rainwater in underserved, rural, and urban Arizona communities. Water Resources IMPACT.
• Ramirez-Andreotta, M. D., Tapper, A., Clough, D., Carrera, J. S., & Sandhaus, S. (2019). Understanding the Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivations Associated with Community Gardening to Improve Environmental Public Health Prevention and Intervention. International journal of environmental research and public health, 16(3).
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  Considering that community members continue to garden in and near environments impacted by pollutants known to negatively impact human health, this paper seeks to characterize the intrinsic and extrinsic motivations of a gardener and elucidate their perception of soil quality and environmental responsibility, awareness of past land use, and gardening behavior. Via semi-structured interviews with community gardeners in the Boston area ( = 17), multifactorial motivations associated with gardening as well as ongoing environmental health challenges were reported. Gardeners are knowledgeable about their garden's historical past and are concerned with soil quality, theft, trash maintenance, animal waste, and loss of produce from foraging animals. Study findings directly inform the field of environmental health exposure assessments by reporting gardening duration, activities that can lead to incidental soil ingestion, and consumption patterns of locally grown produce. This information combined with an understanding of a gardener's intrinsic and extrinsic motivations can be used to develop urban agricultural infrastructure and management strategies, educational programming, and place-based environmental public health interventions.
• Sandhaus, S., Kaufmann, D., & Ramirez-Andreotta, M. (2019). Public Participation, Trust and Data Sharing: Gardens as Hubs for Citizen Science and Environmental Health Literacy Efforts. International journal of science education. Part B. Communication and public engagement, 9(1), 54-71.
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  Gardenroots: A Citizen Science Project (2015) is the product of a needs assessment, revealing environmental quality concerns of gardeners living near hazardous waste or resource extraction activities. Participants were trained, collected garden samples for analysis, and later received their data visualized (individual and aggregated) via community events or mail. This article describes participant motivations, changes in knowledge and efficacy, and whether these depend on the mode of data sharing and visualization. Motivations were internal, and self-efficacy increased, while knowledge and satisfaction were higher in event attendees due to increased researcher contact. This reveals importance of data-sharing events, data visualizations, and participatory research processes.
• Abrell, L., Mclain, J. E., Buxner, S., Kilungo, A., Ramirez-andreotta, M. D., & Davis, L. F. (2018). Increasing Environmental Health Literacy through Contextual Learning in Communities at Risk.. International journal of environmental research and public health, 15(10), 2203. doi:10.3390/ijerph15102203
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  Environmental health literacy (EHL) has recently been defined as the continuum of environmental health knowledge and awareness, skills and self-efficacy, and community action. In this study, an interdisciplinary team of university scientists, partnering with local organizations, developed and facilitated EHL trainings with special focus on rainwater harvesting and water contamination, in four communities with known environmental health stressors in Arizona, USA. These participatory trainings incorporated participants' prior environmental health risk knowledge and personal experiences to co-create training content. Mixed methods evaluation was conducted via pre-post participant surveys in all four trainings (n = 53). Participants who did not demonstrate baseline environmental science knowledge pre-training demonstrated significant knowledge increase post-training, and participants who demonstrated low self-efficacy (SE) pre-training demonstrated a significant increase in SE post-training. Participants overall demonstrated a significant increase in specific environmental health skills described post-training. The interdisciplinary facilitator-scientist team also reported multiple benefits, including learning local knowledge that informed further research, and building trust relationships with community members for future collaboration. We propose contextual EHL education as a valuable strategy for increasing EHL in environmental health risk communities, and for building academia-community partnerships for environmental health research and action.
• Davis, L. F., Ramirez-Andreotta, M. D., McLain, J. E., Kilungo, A., Abrell, L., & Buxner, S. (2018). Increasing Environmental Health Literacy through Contextual Learning in Communities at Risk. International journal of environmental research and public health, 15(10).
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  Environmental health literacy (EHL) has recently been defined as the continuum of environmental health knowledge and awareness, skills and self-efficacy, and community action. In this study, an interdisciplinary team of university scientists, partnering with local organizations, developed and facilitated EHL trainings with special focus on rainwater harvesting and water contamination, in four communities with known environmental health stressors in Arizona, USA. These participatory trainings incorporated participants' prior environmental health risk knowledge and personal experiences to co-create training content. Mixed methods evaluation was conducted via pre-post participant surveys in all four trainings ( = 53). Participants who did not demonstrate baseline environmental science knowledge pre-training demonstrated significant knowledge increase post-training, and participants who demonstrated low self-efficacy (SE) pre-training demonstrated a significant increase in SE post-training. Participants overall demonstrated a significant increase in specific environmental health skills described post-training. The interdisciplinary facilitator-scientist team also reported multiple benefits, including learning local knowledge that informed further research, and building trust relationships with community members for future collaboration. We propose contextual EHL education as a valuable strategy for increasing EHL in environmental health risk communities, and for building academia-community partnerships for environmental health research and action.
• Davis, L. F., Ramirez-Andreotta, M. D., McLain, J., Kilungo, A., Abrell, L., & Buxner, S. (2018). Increasing Environmental Health Literacy through Contextual Learning in Communities at Risk. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH, 15(10).
• Henriquez, P., Sandoval, F., Wolf, A. M., Kilungo, A. P., Ramirez, M. D., & Sandhaus, S. (2017). Combating Climate Injustices: An Informal Science and Popular Education Approach to Addressing Environmental Health Disparities.. Pedagogy in Health Promotion: The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.
• Sandhaus, S., Kaufmann, D., & Ramirez, M. D. (2018). Public participation, trust and data sharing: gardens as hubs for citizen science and environmental health literacy efforts. International Journal of Science Education, Part B.
• Sandhaus, S., Ramirez-andreotta, M. D., Kilungo, A., Wolf, A. M., Sandoval, F., & Henriquez, P. (2018). Combating Climate Injustices: An Informal Science and Popular Education Approach to Addressing Environmental Health Disparities:. Pedagogy in health promotion, 4(4), 260-269. doi:10.1177/2373379917751476
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  As global warming worsens, addressing environmental health disparities and justice is increasingly important. This necessity is evident in southern metropolitan Tucson, Arizona, an area underserved...
• Sandhaus, S., Ramírez-Andreotta, M. D., Kilungo, A., Wolf, A. M., Sandoval, F., & Henriquez, P. (2018). Combating Climate Injustices: An Informal Science and Popular Education Approach to Addressing Environmental Health Disparities. Pedagogy in health promotion, 4(4), 260-269.
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  As global warming worsens, addressing environmental health disparities and justice is increasingly important. This necessity is evident in southern metropolitan Tucson, Arizona, an area underserved and disproportionately experiencing the effects of climate change. Including underserved groups in problem solving can spur knowledge generation and the building of community capacity to address and mitigate environmental health challenges posed by climate justice. This article describes a community-based project that utilized a peer education framework coupled with citizen science design. Community health workers () were trained in environmental health, climate change, and environmental monitoring protocols to then educate and train families about these same subjects. The study goal was to evaluate science and environmental health learning, awareness, and self-efficacy at the promotora and residential levels resulting from intensive 40-hour trainings, peer education via home visits, and environmental monitoring. Pre- and postsurveys were completed by the promotoras and the families they visited. Motivations for participation as well as changes in self-efficacy and knowledge were analyzed. Results revealed that the promotora's motivations were primarily internal and they were concerned with health. Using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test ( =.05), it was observed that for both study groups, knowledge of water and energy conservation statistically increased, as well as self-efficacy for environmental action and scientific learning. This article demonstrates that promotoras are critical in environmental health and climate science peer education. These findings can be used to further develop peer education citizen science projects in underserved communities, ensuring that efforts increase participants' learning, self-efficacy, and enhance social-ecological outcomes.
• Virgone, K. M., Ramirez-Andreotta, M., Mainhagu, J., & Brusseau, M. L. (2018). Effective integrated frameworks for assessing mining sustainability. ENVIRONMENTAL GEOCHEMISTRY AND HEALTH, 40(6), 2635-2655.
• Virgone, K. M., Ramirez-Andreotta, M., Mainhagu, J., & Brusseau, M. L. (2018). Effective integrated frameworks for assessing mining sustainability. Environmental geochemistry and health, 40(6), 2635-2655.
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  The objectives of this research are to review existing methods used for assessing mining sustainability, analyze the limited prior research that has evaluated the methods, and identify key characteristics that would constitute an enhanced sustainability framework that would serve to improve sustainability reporting in the mining industry. Five of the most relevant frameworks were selected for comparison in this analysis, and the results show that there are many commonalities among the five, as well as some disparities. In addition, relevant components are missing from all five. An enhanced evaluation system and framework were created to provide a more holistic, comprehensive method for sustainability assessment and reporting. The proposed framework has five components that build from and encompass the twelve evaluation characteristics used in the analysis. The components include Foundation, Focus, Breadth, Quality Assurance, and Relevance. The enhanced framework promotes a comprehensive, location-specific reporting approach with a concise set of well-defined indicators. Built into the framework is quality assurance, as well as a defined method to use information from sustainability reports to inform decisions. The framework incorporates human health and socioeconomic aspects via initiatives such as community-engaged research, economic valuations, and community-initiated environmental monitoring.
• Wolf, A. M., Sandoval, F., Sandhaus, S., Ramirez-andreotta, M. D., Kilungo, A., & Henriquez, P. (2018). Combating Climate Injustices: An Informal Science and Popular Education Approach to Addressing Environmental Health Disparities.. Pedagogy in health promotion, 4(4), 260-269. doi:10.1177/2373379917751476
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  As global warming worsens, addressing environmental health disparities and justice is increasingly important. This necessity is evident in southern metropolitan Tucson, Arizona, an area underserved and disproportionately experiencing the effects of climate change. Including underserved groups in problem solving can spur knowledge generation and the building of community capacity to address and mitigate environmental health challenges posed by climate justice. This article describes a community-based project that utilized a peer education framework coupled with citizen science design. Community health workers (promotoras) were trained in environmental health, climate change, and environmental monitoring protocols to then educate and train families about these same subjects. The study goal was to evaluate science and environmental health learning, awareness, and self-efficacy at the promotora and residential levels resulting from intensive 40-hour trainings, peer education via home visits, and environmental monitoring. Pre- and postsurveys were completed by the promotoras and the families they visited. Motivations for participation as well as changes in self-efficacy and knowledge were analyzed. Results revealed that the promotora's motivations were primarily internal and they were concerned with health. Using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test (p =.05), it was observed that for both study groups, knowledge of water and energy conservation statistically increased, as well as self-efficacy for environmental action and scientific learning. This article demonstrates that promotoras are critical in environmental health and climate science peer education. These findings can be used to further develop peer education citizen science projects in underserved communities, ensuring that efforts increase participants' learning, self-efficacy, and enhance social-ecological outcomes.
• Gobel, C., Martin, V., & Ramirez, M. D. (2017). Stakeholder Analysis: International Citizen Science Stakeholder Analysis on Data Interoperability Final Report. Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars..
• Sandhaus, S., Ramirez, M. D., Kilungo, A. P., Wolf, A. M., Sandoval, F., & Henriquez, P. (2017). Combating Climate Injustices: An Informal Science and Popular Education Approach to Addressing Environmental Health Disparities.. Pedagogy in Health Promotion: The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.
• Hawes, M. C., McLain, J., Ramirez-Andreotta, M., Curlango-Rivera, G., Flores-Lara, Y., & Brigham, L. A. (2016). Extracellular Trapping of Soil Contaminants by Root Border Cells: New Insights into Plant Defense. AGRONOMY-BASEL, 6(1).
• Ramirez-Andreotta, M. D., Brody, J. G., Lothrop, N., Loh, M., Beamer, P. I., & Brown, P. (2016). Improving Environmental Health Literacy and Justice through Environmental Exposure Results Communication. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH, 13(7).
• Ramirez-Andreotta, M. D., Brody, J. G., Lothrop, N., Loh, M., Beamer, P. I., & Brown, P. (2016). Improving Environmental Health Literacy and Justice through Environmental Exposure Results Communication. International journal of environmental research and public health, 13(7).
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  Understanding the short- and long-term impacts of a biomonitoring and exposure project and reporting personal results back to study participants is critical for guiding future efforts, especially in the context of environmental justice. The purpose of this study was to evaluate learning outcomes from environmental communication efforts and whether environmental health literacy goals were met in an environmental justice community. We conducted 14 interviews with parents who had participated in the University of Arizona's Metals Exposure Study in Homes and analyzed their responses using NVivo, a qualitative data management and analysis program. Key findings were that participants used the data to cope with their challenging circumstances, the majority of participants described changing their families' household behaviors, and participants reported specific interventions to reduce family exposures. The strength of this study is that it provides insight into what people learn and gain from such results communication efforts, what participants want to know, and what type of additional information participants need to advance their environmental health literacy. This information can help improve future report back efforts and advance environmental health and justice.
• Ramirez-Andreotta, M. D., Brody, J. G., Lothrop, N., Loh, M., Beamer, P. I., & Brown, P. (2016). Reporting back environmental exposure data and free choice learning. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH, 15.
• Ramirez-Andreotta, M. D., Brody, J. G., Lothrop, N., Loh, M., Beamer, P. I., & Brown, P. (2016). Reporting back environmental exposure data and free choice learning. Environmental health : a global access science source, 15(1), 2.
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  Reporting data back to study participants is increasingly being integrated into exposure and biomonitoring studies. Informal science learning opportunities are valuable in environmental health literacy efforts and report back efforts are filling an important gap in these efforts. Using the University of Arizona's Metals Exposure Study in Homes, this commentary reflects on how community-engaged exposure assessment studies, partnered with data report back efforts are providing a new informal education setting and stimulating free-choice learning. Participants are capitalizing on participating in research and leveraging their research experience to meet personal and community environmental health literacy goals. Observations from report back activities conducted in a mining community support the idea that reporting back biomonitoring data reinforces free-choice learning and this activity can lead to improvements in environmental health literacy. By linking the field of informal science education to the environmental health literacy concepts, this commentary demonstrates how reporting data back to participants is tapping into what an individual is intrinsically motivated to learn and how these efforts are successfully responding to community-identified education and research needs.
• Ramirez-Andreotta, M. D., Lothrop, N., Wilkinson, S. T., Root, R. A., Artiola, J. F., Klimecki, W., & Loh, M. (2016). Analyzing Patterns of Community Interest at a Legacy Mining Waste Site to Assess and Inform Environmental Health Literacy Efforts. Journal of environmental studies and sciences, 6(3), 543-555.
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  Understanding a community's concerns and informational needs is crucial to conducting and improving environmental health research and literacy initiatives. We hypothesized that analysis of community inquiries over time at a legacy mining site would be an effective method for assessing environmental health literacy efforts and determining whether community concerns were thoroughly addressed. Through a qualitative analysis, we determined community concerns at the time of being listed as a Superfund site. We analyzed how community concerns changed from this starting point over the subsequent years, and whether: 1) communication materials produced by the USEPA and other media were aligned with community concerns; and 2) these changes demonstrated a progression of the community's understanding resulting from community involvement and engaged research efforts. We observed that when the Superfund site was first listed, community members were most concerned with USEPA management, remediation, site-specific issues, health effects, and environmental monitoring efforts related to air/dust and water. Over the next five years, community inquiries shifted significantly to include exposure assessment and reduction methods and issues unrelated to the site, particularly the local public water supply and home water treatment systems. Such documentation of community inquiries over time at contaminated sites is a novel method to assess environmental health literacy efforts and determine whether community concerns were thoroughly addressed.
• Soleri, D., Long, J., Ramirez, M. D., Eitemiller, R., & Pandya, R. (2016). Finding Pathways to More Equitable and Productive Public-Scientist Partnerships. Citizen Science Journal.
• Zarate, O. A., Brody, J. G., Brown, P., Ramirez-Andreotta, M. D., Perovich, L., & Matz, J. (2016). Balancing Benefits and Risks of Immortal Data: Participants' Views of Open Consent in the Personal Genome Project. HASTINGS CENTER REPORT, 46(1), 36-45.
• Zarate, O. A., Brody, J. G., Brown, P., Ramirez-Andreotta, M. D., Perovich, L., & Matz, J. (2016). Balancing Benefits and Risks of Immortal Data: Participants' Views of Open Consent in the Personal Genome Project. The Hastings Center report, 46(1), 36-45.
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  An individual's health, genetic, or environmental-exposure data, placed in an online repository, creates a valuable shared resource that can accelerate biomedical research and even open opportunities for crowd-sourcing discoveries by members of the public. But these data become "immortalized" in ways that may create lasting risk as well as benefit. Once shared on the Internet, the data are difficult or impossible to redact, and identities may be revealed by a process called data linkage, in which online data sets are matched to each other. Reidentification (re-ID), the process of associating an individual's name with data that were considered deidentified, poses risks such as insurance or employment discrimination, social stigma, and breach of the promises often made in informed-consent documents. At the same time, re-ID poses risks to researchers and indeed to the future of science, should re-ID end up undermining the trust and participation of potential research participants. The ethical challenges of online data sharing are heightened as so-called big data becomes an increasingly important research tool and driver of new research structures. Big data is shifting research to include large numbers of researchers and institutions as well as large numbers of participants providing diverse types of data, so the participants' consent relationship is no longer with a person or even a research institution. In addition, consent is further transformed because big data analysis often begins with descriptive inquiry and generation of a hypothesis, and the research questions cannot be clearly defined at the outset and may be unforeseeable over the long term. In this article, we consider how expanded data sharing poses new challenges, illustrated by genomics and the transition to new models of consent. We draw on the experiences of participants in an open data platform-the Personal Genome Project-to allow study participants to contribute their voices to inform ethical consent practices and protocol reviews for big-data research.
• Ramirez, D. M., Ramirez-Andreotta, M. D., Vea, L., Estrella-Sanchez, R., Wolf, A., Kilungo, A., Spitz, A. H., & Betterton, E. A. (2015). Pollution Prevention through Peer Education: A Community Health Worker and Small and Home-Based Business Initiative on the Arizona-Sonora Border. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH, 12(9), 11209-11226.
• Ramirez, M. D., Lothrop, N. Z., Wilkinson, S. T., Root, R., Artiola, J. F., Klimecki, W., & Loh, M. (2015). Analyzing patterns of community interest at a legacy mining waste site to assess and inform environmental health literacy efforts. Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences. doi:10.1007/s13412-015-0297-x
• Ramirez-Andreotta, M. D., Brusseau, M. L., Artiola, J., Maier, R. M., & Gandolfi, A. J. (2015). Building a co-created citizen science program with gardeners neighboring a superfund site: The Gardenroots case study. International public health journal, 7(1).
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  A research project that is only expert-driven may ignore the role of local knowledge in research, give low priority to the development of a comprehensive communication strategy to engage the community, and may not deliver the results of the study to the community in an effective way.
• Ramírez, D. M., Ramírez-Andreotta, M. D., Vea, L., Estrella-Sánchez, R., Wolf, A. M., Kilungo, A., Spitz, A. H., & Betterton, E. A. (2015). Pollution Prevention through Peer Education: A Community Health Worker and Small and Home-Based Business Initiative on the Arizona-Sonora Border. International journal of environmental research and public health, 12(9), 11209-26.
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  Government-led pollution prevention programs tend to focus on large businesses due to their potential to pollute larger quantities, therefore leaving a gap in programs targeting small and home-based businesses. In light of this gap, we set out to determine if a voluntary, peer education approach led by female, Hispanic community health workers (promotoras) can influence small and home-based businesses to implement pollution prevention strategies on-site. This paper describes a partnership between promotoras from a non-profit organization and researchers from a university working together to reach these businesses in a predominately Hispanic area of Tucson, Arizona. From 2008 to 2011, the promotora-led pollution prevention program reached a total of 640 small and home-based businesses. Program activities include technical trainings for promotoras and businesses, generation of culturally and language appropriate educational materials, and face-to-face peer education via multiple on-site visits. To determine the overall effectiveness of the program, surveys were used to measure best practices implemented on-site, perceptions towards pollution prevention, and overall satisfaction with the industry-specific trainings. This paper demonstrates that promotoras can promote the implementation of pollution prevention best practices by Hispanic small and home-based businesses considered "hard-to-reach" by government-led programs.
• Ramirez-Andreotta, M. D., Brusseau, M. L., Artiola, J. F., Maier, R. M., & Gandolfi, A. J. (2014). Environmental Research Translation: Enhancing interactions with communities at contaminated sites. SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT, 497, 651-664.
• Ramirez-Andreotta, M. D., Brusseau, M. L., Artiola, J. F., Maier, R. M., & Gandolfi, A. J. (2014). Environmental Research Translation: enhancing interactions with communities at contaminated sites. The Science of the total environment, 497-498, 651-64.
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  The characterization and remediation of contaminated sites are complex endeavors fraught with numerous challenges. One particular challenge that is receiving increased attention is the development and encouragement of full participation by communities and community members affected by a given site in all facets of decision-making. Many disciplines have been grappling with the challenges associated with environmental and risk communication, public participation in environmental data generation, and decision-making and increasing community capacity. The concepts and methods developed by these disciplines are reviewed, with a focus on their relevance to the specific dynamics associated with environmental contamination sites. The contributions of these disciplines are then synthesized and integrated to help develop Environmental Research Translation (ERT), a proposed framework for environmental scientists to promote interaction and communication among involved parties at contaminated sites. This holistic approach is rooted in public participation approaches to science, which includes: a transdisciplinary team, effective collaboration, information transfer, public participation in environmental projects, and a cultural model of risk communication. Although there are challenges associated with the implementation of ERT, it is anticipated that application of this proposed translational science method could promote more robust community participation at contaminated sites.
• Ramirez-Andreotta, M. D., Brusseau, M. L., Artiola, J. F., & Maier, R. M. (2013). A greenhouse and field-based study to determine the accumulation of arsenic in common homegrown vegetables grown in mining-affected soils. SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT, 443, 299-306.
• Ramirez-Andreotta, M. D., Brusseau, M. L., Artiola, J. F., & Maier, R. M. (2013). A greenhouse and field-based study to determine the accumulation of arsenic in common homegrown vegetables grown in mining-affected soils. The Science of the total environment, 443, 299-306.
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  The uptake of arsenic by plants from contaminated soils presents a health hazard that may affect home gardeners neighboring contaminated environments. A controlled greenhouse study was conducted in parallel with a co-created citizen science program (home garden experiment) to characterize the uptake of arsenic by common homegrown vegetables near the Iron King Mine and Humboldt Smelter Superfund site in southern Arizona. The greenhouse and home garden arsenic soil concentrations varied considerably, ranging from 2.35 to 533 mg kg(-1). In the greenhouse experiment four vegetables were grown in three different soil treatments and in the home garden experiment a total of 63 home garden produce samples were obtained from 19 properties neighboring the site. All vegetables accumulated arsenic in both the greenhouse and home garden experiments, ranging from 0.01 to 23.0 mg kg(-1) dry weight. Bioconcentration factors were determined and show that arsenic uptake decreased in the order: Asteraceae>Brassicaceae>Amaranthaceae>Cucurbitaceae>Liliaceae>Solanaceae>Fabaceae. Certain members of the Asteraceae and Brassicaceae plant families have been previously identified as hyperaccumulator plants, and it can be inferred that members of these families have genetic and physiological capacity to accumulate, translocate, and resist high amounts of metals. Additionally, a significant linear correlation was observed between the amount of arsenic that accumulated in the edible portion of the plant and the arsenic soil concentration for the Asteraceae, Brassicaceae, Amaranthaceae, and Fabaceae families. The results suggest that home gardeners neighboring mining operations or mine tailings with elevated arsenic levels should be made aware that arsenic can accumulate considerably in certain vegetables, and in particular, it is recommended that gardeners limit consumption of vegetables from the Asteraceae and Brassicaceae plant families.
• Ramirez-Andreotta, M. D., Brusseau, M. L., Beamer, P., & Maier, R. M. (2013). Home gardening near a mining site in an arsenic-endemic region of Arizona: Assessing arsenic exposure dose and risk via ingestion of home garden vegetables, soils, and water. SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT, 454, 373-382.
• Ramirez-Andreotta, M. D., Brusseau, M. L., Beamer, P., & Maier, R. M. (2013). Home gardening near a mining site in an arsenic-endemic region of Arizona: assessing arsenic exposure dose and risk via ingestion of home garden vegetables, soils, and water. The Science of the total environment, 454-455, 373-82.
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  The human-health risk posed by gardening near a legacy mine and smelter in an arsenic-endemic region of Arizona was characterized in this study. Residential soils were used in a greenhouse study to grow common vegetables, and local residents, after training, collected soil, water, and vegetables samples from their home gardens. Concentrations of arsenic measured in water, soil, and vegetable samples were used in conjunction with reported US intake rates to calculate the daily dose, Incremental Excess Lifetime Cancer Risk (IELCR), and Hazard Quotient for arsenic. Relative arsenic intake dose decreased in order: water>garden soils>homegrown vegetables, and on average, each accounted for 77, 16, and 7% of a residential gardener's daily arsenic intake dose. The IELCR ranges for vegetables, garden soils, and water were 10(-8) to 10(-4), 10(-6) to 10(-4), and 10(-5) to 10(-2), respectively. All vegetables (greenhouse and home garden) were grouped by scientific family, and the risk posed decreased as: Asteraceae≫Fabaceae>Amaranthaceae>Liliaceae>Brassicaceae>Solanaceae≫Cucurbitaceae. Correlations observed between concentrations of arsenic in vegetables and soils were used to estimate a maximum allowable level of arsenic in soil to limit the excess cancer risk to 10(-6). The estimated values are 1.56 mg kg(-1), 5.39 mg kg(-1), 11.6 mg kg(-1) and 12.4 mg kg(-1) for the Asteraceae, Brassicaceae, Fabaceae, and Amaranthaceae families, respectively. It is recommended that home gardeners: sample their private wells annually, test their soils prior to gardening, and, if necessary, modify their gardening behavior to reduce incidental soil ingestion. This study highlights the importance of site-specific risk assessment, and the need for species-specific planting guidelines for communities.

Proceedings Publications

• Ramirez-andreotta, M. D. (2020). ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH VULNERABILITIES AND RESILIENCIES: GARDENS AS HUBS FOR JUSTICE AND LITERACY EFFORTS. In Geological Society of America.
• Ramirez, M. D., Ramirez-andreotta, M. D., Brusseau, M. L., Artiola, J. F., Maier, R. M., Gandolfi, A. J., & Maier, R. M. (2015). Environmental Research Translation: Enhancing Interactions with Communities at Contaminated Sites. In American Geophysical Union.
• Virgone, K. M., Ramirez, M. D., Poupeau, F., Coeurdray, M., & Brusseau, M. L. (2014). Evaluating the Impact of Modern Copper Mining on Ecosystem Services in Southern Arizona. In American Geophysical Union.

Presentations

• Brusseau, M. L., & Ramirez, M. D. (2022). PFAS and Human Health Risk Assessment.. Mission Community Garden MeetingMission Community Garden..
• Ramirez, M. D. (2022). Assess the impact of our work: Cultivating Science and Action.. NIEHS Superfund Research Program Annual – Community Engagement/Research Translation Satellite Meeting. Raleigh, NC: NIEHS.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2022). Community-based Science for Justice and Action. SxSW. Austin, TX: SxSW, University of Arizona.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2022). Cultivating Science, Justice, and Action Through Participatory Research Methods. . Duncan and Suzanne Mellichamp Academic Initiative: Racial Environmental Justice. Environmental Justice Forum.. UC-Santa Barbara.
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  Invited speaker - Duncan and Suzanne Mellichamp Academic Initiative: Racial Environmental Justice. Environmental Justice Forum. 
• Ramirez, M. D. (2022). Cultivating Science, Justice, and Action through Participatory Research Methods.. School of Landscape Architecture and Planning, University of Arizona.School of Landscape Architecture and Planning, University of Arizona..
• Ramirez, M. D. (2022). Cultivating Science, Justice, and Action through Participatory Research Methods. . ASA, CSSA, and SSSA Annual MeetingASA, CSSA, and SSSA Annual Meeting.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2022). Cultivating Science, Justice, and Action through Participatory Research Methods.. Seminar, School of Earth & Sustainability, Northern Arizona UniversitySchool of Earth & Sustainability, Northern Arizona University..
• Ramirez, M. D. (2022). Cultivating Science, Justice, and Action. *Keynote Speaker.. 2022 Citizen Science Association.U.S. Citizen Science Association..
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  *Keynote Speaker.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2022). Inclusive Engagement Event. *Keynote Speaker.. 2022 Arizona's Science, Engineering & Math Scholars (ASEMS) Program. Tucson, AZ: 2022 Arizona's Science, Engineering & Math Scholars (ASEMS) Program..
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  *Keynote Speaker
• Ramirez, M. D. (2022). Participatory Research Methods and Foliar Surfaces as Dust and Aerosol Pollution Monitors. . Center for Environmentally Sustainable Mining, University of ArizonaCenter for Environmentally Sustainable Mining.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2022). Participatory Research Methods and Foliar Surfaces as Dust and Aerosol Pollution Monitors. Center for Environmentally Sustainable Mining, University of Arizona. Phoenix, Arizona: Center for Environmentally Sustainable Mining.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2022). Participatory Research for Environmental Justice. Texas Water Research NetworkUniversity of Texas at Austin..
• Ramirez, M. D. (2022). Participatory research and data sharing: Integrating diverse forms of vulnerability and resiliency data to inform change. . NIEHS Keystone Seminar SeriesNational Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2022). Partnering for Action: Cultivating Science and Justice *Keynote Speaker.. 27th NSF EPSCoR National Conference. Portland, Maine: NSF EPSCoR National Conference.
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  Invited Keynote Speaker
• Ramirez, M. D. (2022). Partnering for Action: Cultivating Science and Justice. November 2022. Nicholas School of the Environment SeminarNicholas School of the Environment, Duke University..
• Ramirez, M. D. (2022). Using New Approach Methodologies to Address Variability and Susceptibility Across Populations. A State of the Science Symposium Webinar - Population Variability and Susceptibility SymposiumNational Toxicology Program..
• Ramirez, M. D. (2022).  Cultivating Science, Justice, and Action Through Participatory Research Methods.  *Keynote Speaker.. Gordon Research Seminar Series, Environmental Science: Water.Gordon Research Seminar Series, Environmental Science: Water..
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   *Keynote Speaker.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2022).  Working with Communities, Data Sharing and the Report Back Process. NIEHS Research Translation and Community Engagement Seminar.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2022). Partnerships for equity & justice Workshop. American Geophysical Union.
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  Workshop Learning Goals Participants will:Learn foundational components for partnering to advance environmental and social justice and gain insights from a panel of experts strategies for designing and sustaining equitable partnershipsIdentify takeaways for their education, research, or community engagement effortsAction plan next steps to move partnering forwardMeet other attendees interested in advancing environmental justice
• Ramirez, M. D., & Avila, S. (2022). Bio/Diversity Project Intersectional Environmentalism Panel. Women in Science and Engineering Program. Tucson, AZ: Southwest Institute for Research on Women.
• Ramirez, M. D., Kinchy, A., Engel-Di Mauro, S., High, K., Margalit, T., Price, H., Ureta, S., Valenzuela, D., Xu, C., & Yunis, C. (2022). Our Soil/Nuestros Suelos: Community Science for Soil Care. Society for Social Studies of Science (4S)/ESOCITE. Cholula, Mexico.
• Bullard, R., Pellow, D., & Ramirez, M. D. (2021). Environmental justice, health, and collective action.. CASPHR Annual Meeting focused on Climate Change, Cancer, & Health: A Multilevel Examination of Sustainable Health Behavior Change.Division of Cancer Control & Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute, National Institute of Health..
• Kaufmann, D. B., Isaacs, K., & Ramirez, M. D. (2021). Workshop to Prototyping: Identifying web vis requirements from participatory stakeholder activities. IIEE AZ Vis Conference. Tucson, Arizona.
• Kaufmann, D. B., Palawat, K., Sandhaus, S., Anides Morales, A., Annabelle, G., Moreno Ramirez, D., & Ramirez, M. D. (2021). Abolishing top-down data collection models: A citizen science approach and critique of the Years of Potential Life Lost equation.. American Association of GeographersAmerican Association of Geographers..
• Ramirez, M. D. (2021). . Inclusive Engagement Event - Keynote speaker. 2021 Arizona's Science, Engineering & Math Scholars (ASEMS) Program.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2021). Community Science and Data Integration to Address Environmental Health Disparities. 2021 Women in Data Science (WiDS) - New England.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2021). Health of social and ecological communities. California Academy of Sciences, NighSchool Series.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2021). Interdisciplinary Nature of Research Panel.. Arizona's Science, Engineering and Math Scholars Program.. The University of Arizona.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2021). Participatory Research Methods for Environmental Action. Department of Environmental Science & Technology, University of Maryland.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2021). Participatory Research Methods to Address Layered Environmental Health Burdens and Mobilize Resilience. Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences, Oregon Health & Science University.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2021). Participatory Research and Science Communication. Seminar, School of Geography, Development & Environment.. The University of Arizona.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2021). “You’ll need permission from the mine to work here” – Navigating Power and Cultural Idiosyncrasies in Legacy Rural Mining Communities.. American Association of Geographers.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2021, 2021). 2021 Bio/Diversity Project Intersectional Environmentalism Panel. Bio/Diversity Project Intersectional Environmentalism Panel.
• Ramirez, M. D., & Kaufmann, D. B. (2021). Equity Centered Community Design for Environmental Communication and Justice.. American Association for the Advancement of Science Communicating Science Seminar..
• Ramirez, M. D., Isaacs, K., & Kaufmann, D. B. (2021). Workshop to Prototyping: Identifying web vis requirements from participatory stakeholder activities. AZVIS Conference. Tucson, Arizona.
• Ramirez, M. D., Kaufmann, D. B., & Jones, M. (2021). Advancing equity in risk communication. NIEHS SRP Risk Communication Strategies to Reduce Exposures and Improve Health.NIEHS SRP.
• Ramirez, M. D., Ramirez, M. D., Sandhaus, S., Sandhaus, S., Sandoval, F., Sandoval, F., Kilungo, A. P., Kilungo, A. P., Mclain, J. E., Mclain, J. E., Root, R. A., Root, R. A., Abrell, L. M., Abrell, L. M., Buxner, S. R., Buxner, S. R., Kaufmann, D. B., Kaufmann, D. B., Cortez, I., , Cortez, I., et al. (2021). Building a transdisciplinary, bilingual community science program to advance environmental health in underserved communities. Citizen Science AssociationCitizen Science Association.
• Wilson, S., & Ramirez, M. D. (2021, September). Equitable Exchange Series - Session 6: Building Relationships - Facilitation & Care. Active Societal Participation in Research and Education (ASPIRE) and Thriving Earth Exchange.
• Huerta, D., Palawat, K., & Ramirez, M. D. (2020, November). Relying on local foods grown in environmental compromised spaces: Metal(loid) accumulation in plants.. Geological Society of America. virtual: Geological Society of America..
• Kaufmann, D., Sandhaus, S., Ramirez, M. D., Buxner, S. R., Palawat, K., & Mohr-Felsen, A. (2020, October). Connecting with audiences through novel data sharing experiences and visualizations.. 49th Annual North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) Conference.. virtual: North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE).
• Kunal, P. K., Root, R. A., & Ramirez, M. D. (2020, Fall). Co-created citizen science to understand the quality of harvested rainwater and influential predictors for current and future irrigation use. American Geophysical Union Fall MeetingAGU.
• Morales, A. a., Ramirez, M. D., Gerba, C. P., & Reynolds, K. A. (2020, nov). Sanitary sewer overflows in Ambos Nacos- a quantitative microbial risk assessment at Naco elementary. American Society of Agronomy; Crop Science Society of America and Soil Science Society of America conference. ASA, CSSA & SSSA International Annual Meeting. Virtual online: ASA, CSSA & SSSA.
• Moses, A. J., Mclain, J. E., Kilungo, A. P., Rutin, E. J., & Ramirez, M. D. (2020, October). The efficacy of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) tests for detecting microbial contamination in harvested rainwater samples. UNC Water and Health Conference. Chapel Hill, NC (Online): University of North Carolina School of Public Health.
• Palawat, K., Mohr-Felsen, A., Sandhaus, S., Kaufmannn, D., Buxner, S. R., & Ramirez, M. D. (2020, October). Internalizing Social Justice to Conduct Equitable Citizen Science Research.. 49th Annual North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) Symposium.. virtual: North American Association for Environmental Education.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2020, August). Bio/Diversity Project Leadership Program Panel.. Southwest Institute for Research on Women, The University of Arizona.. virtual: Southwest Institute for Research on Women, The University of Arizona..
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  Panelist with Cam Juárez, Ilse Rojas, Claudio Rodriguez
• Ramirez, M. D. (2020, December). Cultivating Science and Environmental Justice.. University of Texas – Austin Hot Science At Home Outreach Series. virtual: University of Texas – Austin..
• Ramirez, M. D. (2020, December). Navigating a Career in GeoHealth Event Information Panel.. American Geophysical Union. virtual.
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  Panelist with Helena Chapman, D Pei Wu, Eri Saikawa, moderated by Franziska Landes
• Ramirez, M. D. (2020, February). Building Community for Inclusive Public Engagement with Science. 2020 American Association for the Advancement of Science. Seattle, WA.: American Association for the Advancement of Science.
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  Panelist with Carrie Tzou and Rabiah Mayas, moderated by Sunshine Menezes
• Ramirez, M. D. (2020, June). From Concept to Action A Pathway to Climate Justice.. AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellowships Program Symposium. virutal: AAAS.
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  Panelist with Ricardo J. Salvador, David Inouye, and Julia Bradley-Cook
• Ramirez, M. D. (2020, June). Los Posibles Caminos Dentro de STEM. 2020 Launching Your Career Symposium – Mexico.. virtual.
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  [Panelist with Liliana Ruiz Diaz, María Del Carmen Luna, María Rubí Forte Celaya.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2020, March). Environmental Health Literacy: The intersection of environmental public health and health communication. Kentucky Conference on Health Communication. virtual: Kentucky Conference on Health Communication.
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  Selected Panelist, submitted session with O'Fallon L, Hoover AG, Silk K, Gray K, Lapinski M, Ramírez-Andreotta, MD, Ohayon JL.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2020, March). Keynote Panel: Addressing Climate Change and Human Health. 2020 Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health’s Poster Form. virtual: Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health.
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  Panelist with Kristen Engel and Mona Arora
• Ramirez, M. D. (2020, November). Environmental Health Vulnerabilities and Resiliencies: Gardens as Hubs for Justice and Literacy Efforts. Geological Society of America. Virtual: Geological Society of America.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2020, November). Soil Health and Justice.. American Society of Agronomy/Crop Science Society of America/Soil Science Society of America International Annual Meetings..
• Ramirez, M. D. (2020, September 2020). Inclusive Engagement Workshop. 2020 Arizona’s Science, Engineering, and Mathematics Scholars. Virtual: The University of Arizona.
• Ramirez, M. D., Buxner, S. R., Kaufmann, D., Davis, L. F., Lippert, N., Mohr-Felsen, A., Anides Morales, A., & Palawat, K. (2020, October). Achieving Environmental Health Literacy via Citizen Science and Data Sharing. 49th Annual North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) Conference.North American Association for Environmental Education.
• Sandhaus, S., Ramirez, M. D., Buxner, S. R., Kaufmann, D., Palawat, K., & Mohr-Felsen, A. (2020, October). Using a Mixed-Methods Approach to Evaluate Participant Outcomes. 49th Annual North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) Symposium.. virtual: North American Association for Environmental Education.
• Cardona-Cordero, N., Velez-Vega, C., Zayas, H., Diaz, Z., Guilloty, N., Fernandez, F., Ayala, I., Agosto-Arroyo, L., Moses, A., Solis-Leon, J., Rathke, S., Ramirez, M. D., & Gonzalez, L. (2019, November). Increasing literacy and enhancing decision making in underserved communities in Puerto Rico: “Buscando En Tu Ambiente” Community Based Participatory Research.. American Public Health Association. Philadelphia, PA. I: American Public Health Association.
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  Gonzalez L
• Kaufmann, D. B., & Ramirez, M. D. (2019, August). Communicating the Environmental Health Risk Assessment Process: Formative Evaluation and Increasing Comprehension through Visual Design.. National Conference on Health Communication, Marketing, and Media. Atlanta, GA: National Conference on Health Communication, Marketing, and Media.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2019, August). Sample Collection Training. Gardenroots: The Superior, AZ Garden Project. Superior, Pinal County, AZ.
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  Gardenroots: A Citizen Science Garden Project Sample Collection Training, Superior, Pinal County, AZ23 community members
• Ramirez, M. D. (2019, February). Communicating Sciences Across Boundaries [Panelist; session co-organized by Scott C and Racelis A].. American Association for the Advancement of Science. Washington, DC: American Association for the Advancement of Science.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2019, February). Faculty Panel - Graduate School Conference [Panelist].. Arizona's Science, Engineering and Math Scholars (ASEMS) program. Tucson, AZ.: Arizona's Science, Engineering and Math Scholars (ASEMS) program.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2019, February). La Moni, Yola, and Dr. Ramírez: Who I am, How I Got Here, and Why I Do It! [Family Science Day].. American Association for the Advancement of Science. Washington, DC.: American Association for the Advancement of Science.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2019, February). PPSR/Citizen Science as a Force for Change [Panelist; session organized by Heidi Ballard].. Advancing Informal Science Learning PI Meeting,. Washington, DC.: National Science Foundation.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2019, March). Solving today’s problems through the application of integrated sciences [Keynote speaker].. Amphi AP Environmental Science Tour. University of Arizona. Tucson, AZ.: SWES.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2019, March). Space Grant Lunch & Learn Speaker. Arizona/NASA Space Grant Program. Tucson, AZ: Arizona/NASA Space Grant Program,.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2019, May). Ciencias Ciudadanas: Accion en Primera Linea [Keynote speaker].. 2019 Conferencia de Salud Fronteriza- Informacion para la Accion. Nogales, Sonora, Mexico: Border, Transborder, and Binational Public Health Research Collaboration.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2019, May). Placed-based Visualizations and Information Design Efforts For and With Communities.. VISUALISE Conference. San Francisco, CA: Exploratorium.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2019, November). Citizen Science for Environmental Health Justice [Keynote Speaker].. Third Annual Idaho Water Resources Research Institute Symposium. Moscow, ID..
• Ramirez, M. D. (2019, November). Designing citizen science for systems-level change that reduces communities’ environmental health risk.. NIEHS Superfund Research Program Annual Meeting. Seattle, WA..
• Ramirez, M. D. (2019, September). A Guide to Building and Nurturing Authentic, Diverse, and Collaborative Partnerships [Panelist].. STEM Panel and Mixer. Tucson, AZ.: UA STEM Learning Center.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2019, September). Citizen Science for Environmental Health Justice. Research Scholar visit, Exploratorium. San Francisco, CA.: Exploratorium.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2019, September). Inclusive Engagement Workshop [Panelist].. Arizona's Science, Engineering and Math Scholars (ASEMS) program. Tucson, AZ.: Arizona's Science, Engineering and Math Scholars (ASEMS) program.
• Ramirez, M. D., & Davis, L. F. (2019, December). Building Diverse, Equitable, and Productive Public-Scientist Partnerships to Achieve Environmental Justice. American Geophysical Union.
• Ramirez, M. D., & Ramirez, M. D. (2019, May). Data Sharing and Community Gathering. Gardenroots: The Nevada County, CA Garden Project. Nevada City, Nevada County, CA: California Breast Cancer Research Program.
• Ramirez, M. D., Abrell, L. M., Mclain, J. E., Kilungo, A. P., & Root, R. A. (2019, April). Project Harvest: A Co-Created Citizen Science Rainwater Harvesting Program in Rural and Urban Arizona Communities. 2nd Cobre Valley Forum on Water. Globe, Gila County, Arizona..
• Ramirez, M. D., Abrell, L. M., Mclain, J. E., Kilungo, A. P., Root, R. A., Sandoval, F., Solis-Leon, J., Moses, A., Davis, L., Villagomez, N., & Kaufmann, D. (2019, March). Project Harvest Be Informed. Grow Smarter. Brown Bag Seminar,. Tucson, AZ: Water Research Resource Center, Villagomez-Marquez N. Davis L, and Kaufmann D,.
• Ramirez, M. D., Abrell, L. M., Mclain, J. E., Kilungo, A. P., Root, R. A., Sandoval, F., Solis-Leon, J., Moses, A., Davis, L., Villagomez, N., & Kaufmann, D. (2019, March). Project Harvest Be Informed. Grow Smarter. Water Research Resource Center Brown Bag Seminar. Tucson, AZ: Water Research Resource Center.
• Ramirez, M. D., Jesus, S., Root, R. A., & Ramírez-Andreotta, K. K. (2019, Fall). Metal(loid)s in rooftop harvested rainwater near hazardous waste and toxic release sites. American Geophysical Union Fall 2019 MeetingAGU.
• Ramirez, M. D., Root, R. A., & Solis-Leon, J. (2019, December). Metal(loid)s in Rooftop Harvested Rainwater near Hazardous Waste and Toxic Release Sites. American Geophysical Union. San Francisco, CA: American Geophysical Union.
• Sandhaus, S., Ramirez, M. D., & Kaufmann, D. (2019, February). Public Participation, Trust, and Data Sharing: Gardens as Hubs for Citizen Science and Environmental Health Literacy Efforts. Data in Everyday Life: Citizen Science - Love Data Week. Tucson AZ.: The University of Arizona.
• Sandoval, F., Ramirez, M. D., Davis, L., Abrell, L. M., Mclain, J. E., Buxner, S. R., Root, R. A., Kilungo, A. P., Kilungo, A. P., Root, R. A., Buxner, S. R., Mclain, J. E., Davis, L., Abrell, L. M., Sandoval, F., & Ramirez, M. D. (2019, March). Effect of environmental monitoring method on participant self-efficacy for science in underrepresented communities. Citizen Science Conference. Raleigh, North Carolina: Citizen Science Association.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2017, January). Dr. Ramirez, Tia Meme, Yola, and La Moni: Where I am and How I Got Here. Woman in Science and Engineering, Expanding Your Horizons Conference.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2018, April). Science and Social Justice: Developing Social Justice-Based Approaches to Science Education. Southwest Institute for Research on Women and College of Education.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2018, December). Project Harvest Data Sharing and Community Gathering, Dewey-Humboldt, Yavapai County, AZ (n=2). Project Harvest Data Sharing and Community Gathering. Dewey-Humboldt, Yavapai County, AZ.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2018, December). Project Harvest Data Sharing and Community Gathering, Hayden/Winkelman, Gila County, AZ (n=2). Project Harvest Data Sharing and Community Gathering. Globe/Miami, Gila County, AZ.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2018, May). Ciencia Ciudadana y La Cooperación para la Acción: Investigación de Salud Ambiental en Comunidades Marginadas (Citizen Science and Partnering for Action: Environmental Health Research in Underserved Communities).. Second Annual Chilean Citizen Science Seminar, La Universidad Autónoma de Chile (Autonomous University of Chile.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2018, May). Gardenroots: A Citizen Science Garden Project Training, Nevada City, Nevada County, CA. Gardenroots: A Citizen Science Garden Project Training, Nevada City, Nevada County, CA. Nevada City, Nevada County, CA.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2018, May). Sustainability Policy – Volunteers and Ethics. Bullion Plaza Cultural Center & Museum Hardscrabble.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2018, November/ December). Project Harvest Data Sharing and Community Gathering, Tucson, Pima County, AZ (English and Spanish, N=4). Project Harvest Data Sharing and Community Gathering, Tucson, Pima County, AZ. Tucson, Pima County, AZ.
  More info

  Project Harvest Data Sharing and Community Gathering, Tucson, Pima County, AZ (English and Spanish, N=4)A total of four events were hosted, 2 in english and 2 in Spanish
• Ramirez, M. D. (2018, November/December). Project Harvest Data Sharing and Community Gathering, Globe/Miami, Gila County, AZ (n=2). Project Harvest Data Sharing and Community Gathering, Globe/Miami, Gila County, AZ (n=2). Hayden/Winkelman, Gila County, AZ.
  More info

  Project Harvest Data Sharing and Community Gathering, Globe/Miami, Gila County, AZ (n=2)
• Abrell, L. M., Ramirez, M. D., Kilungo, A. P., Mclain, J. E., & Root, R. (2017, September). Survey of contaminants in harvested rainwater from a southern Arizona pilot study. 14th Biennial Conference of Science & Management on the Colorado Plateau & Southwest Region.
• Mclain, J. E., Kilungo, A. P., Ramirez, M. D., Abrell, L. M., Root, R., & Sandoval, F. (2017, September). Teaching harvested rainwater microbiology in Arizona communities: lessons learned. 14th Biennial Conference of Science & Management on the Colorado Plateau & Southwest Region.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2017, April). Leadership at University of Arizona. University of Arizona Women in Green Leadership Panel.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2017, August). Inclusive Engagement Workshop. Arizona’s Science, Engineering, & Math Scholars. Tucson, AZ.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2017, May). Bridge to Doctorate for Underrepresented Minority Students in STEM. Bridge to Doctorate for Underrepresented Minority Students in STEM. Tucson, AZ.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2017, October). Citizen Science and Partnering for Action: Environmental Health Research in Underserved Communities. Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America International Annual Meeting. Tampa, FL: Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2017, October). Improving Environmental Health Literacy and Justice Through Data Report Back and Free-Choice Learning. International Society of Exposure Science. Research Triangle Park, NC.: International Society of Exposure Science.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2017, October). The Next Generation of Environmental Research and Action: Citizen Science and a Stakeholder-Oriented Approach to Experimental Design. Citizen Science, on-Farm Trials and the Future of Agricultural Research; Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America International Annual Meeting. Tampa, FL: Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America International Annual Meeting.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2017, September). Introduction to Project Harvest. Buillion Cultural Plaza Seminar Series. Miami, AZ.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2017, September). Research Translation Lightening Call. National Institute of Environmental Health Sceinces Webinar.
• Ramirez, M. D., Abrell, L. M., Mclain, J. E., Kilungo, A. P., Root, R., Sandoval, F., & Sandhaus, S. (2017, September). Community science: public participation in harvested water and soil monitoring. 14th Biennial Conference of Science & Management on the Colorado Plateau & Southwest Region.
• Root, R., Abrell, L. M., Ramirez, M. D., Mclain, J. E., & Kilungo, A. P. (2017, September). Does the dose make the poison: the presence of metal(liods) in harvested rooftop rainwater. 14th Biennial Conference of Science & Management on the Colorado Plateau & Southwest Region.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2016, August). Panelist, Inclusive Engagement Workshop. Arizona’s Science, Engineering, & Math Scholars Inclusive Engagement Workshop. Tucson, AZ: University of AZ Arizona’s Science, Engineering, & Math Scholars Program.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2016, December 2016). Decision-Makers, Project Leaders & Audience Engaging in Dialogue Regarding What Criteria/Threshold Must be Achieved to use Citizen Science. Research Triangle Environmental Health Collaborative Annual Summit: Community Engaged Research and Citizen Science, Research. Research Triangle Park, NC.: Research Triangle Environmental Health Collaborative.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2016, December). Community Gathering and Data Sharing: Apache County. Gardenroots: A Citizen Science Garden Project. St. Johns, AZ: Gardenroots: A Citizen Science Garden Project sponosored by Superfund Research Program and the Center for Sustainable Mining.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2016, December). Community Gathering and Data Sharing: Cochise County. Gardenroots: A Citizen Science Garden Project. Bisbee, AZ: Gardenroots: A Citizen Science Garden Project sponosored by Superfund Research Program and the Center for Sustainable Mining.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2016, December). Community Gathering and Data Sharing: Cochise County. Gardenroots: A Citizen Science Garden Project. Sierra Vista, AZ: Gardenroots: A Citizen Science Garden Project sponosored by Superfund Research Program and the Center for Sustainable Mining.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2016, December). Community Gathering and Data Sharing: Cochise County. Gardenroots: A Citizen Science Garden Project. Willcox, AZ: Gardenroots: A Citizen Science Garden Project sponosored by Superfund Research Program and the Center for Sustainable Mining.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2016, February). Building a Culture of Health in the Green: Gardens as Hubs for Community Engaged Research and Environmental Health Literacy. Departmental Seminar, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM. New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2016, May). Research Translation and Citizen Science Tools to Help Frame Community Perspectives. Device for Interdisciplinary Research on Human-Environments Interactions Laboratory for Excellence, French National Center for Scientific Research. Toulouse, France.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2016, November). Social Science Methods and Tools in Climate Adaptation Panel. Center for Climate Adaptation Science and Solutions TED-ish Talk. Tucson, AZ: Center for Climate Adaptation Science and Solutions.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2016, November). The Importance of Place: Plant Uptake of Pollutants and Essential Minerals Grown in Environmentally Compromised Rural and Urban Gardens.. Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America International Annual Meeting. Phoenix, AZ: Soil Science Society of America.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2016, October). Cultivating Citizen Science to Reduce Environmental Risks. ScienceWriters 2016. San Antonio, TX: Council for the Advancement of Science Writing.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2016, September). Building a Culture of Health in the Green: Gardens as Hubs for Citizen Science and Environmental Health Literacy. School of Geography and Development Seminar. Tucson, AZ: School of Geography and Development Seminar.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2016, September). Building a Culture of Health in the Green: Gardens as Hubs for Community Engaged Research and Environmental Health Literacy. Life Sciences Student Association. Tucson, AZ: University of AZ Life Sciences Student Association.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2016, Spring). Guest Lecturer, “What if we could achieve environmental health justice?” Biosphere II. Biosphere II "What If Series. Biosphere II: Biosphere II.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2015, February). Using a Citizen Science Approach to Change the Face of Environmental Public Health Research. UA College of Public Health, Environmental Occupational Health Seminar.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2015, July). A Co-Created Citizen Science Approach to Environmental Public Health Research and Risk Communication at Hazardous Sites.. Inaugural Australian Citizen Science Association Conference. Canberra, Australia: Australian Citizen Science Association.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2015, March). Citizen Science Efforts and Environmental Health Risk Communication at Hazardous Sites.. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences WebinarNational Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2015, Summer). Gardenroots: A Citizen Science Garden Project Training, Apache County, AZ. Gardenroots: A Citizen Science Garden Project. St. Johns, Apache County, AZ: Gardenroots: A Citizen Science Garden Project sponosored by Superfund Research Program and the Center for Sustainable Mining.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2015, Summer). Gardenroots: A Citizen Science Garden Project Training, Cochise County AZ. Gardenroots: A Citizen Science Garden Project. Willcox, Cochise County AZ: Gardenroots: A Citizen Science Garden Project sponosored by Superfund Research Program and the Center for Sustainable Mining.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2015, Summer). Gardenroots: A Citizen Science Garden Project Training, Duncan, Greenlee County, AZ. Gardenroots: A Citizen Science Garden Project. Duncan, Greenlee County, AZ: Gardenroots: A Citizen Science Garden Project sponosored by Superfund Research Program and the Center for Sustainable Mining.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2015, Summer). Gardenroots: A Citizen Science Garden Project Training, Greenlee County, AZ. Gardenroots: A Citizen Science Garden Project. Morenci, Greenlee County, AZ: Gardenroots: A Citizen Science Garden Project sponosored by Superfund Research Program and the Center for Sustainable Mining.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2015, Summer). Gardenroots: A Citizen Science Garden Project Training, Sierra Vista, Cochise County AZ. Gardenroots: A Citizen Science Garden Project. Sierra Vista, Cochise County AZ: Gardenroots: A Citizen Science Garden Project sponosored by Superfund Research Program and the Center for Sustainable Mining.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2016, November). Democratizing Science: A Co-Created Citizen Science Approach to Environmental Health Research in Underserved Communities. Visiting Scholars to Advance Science (VISTAS) Grant, Michigan State University. East Lansing, MI.
• Ramirez, M. D., & Ramirez, M. D. (2015, Summer). Gardenroots: A Citizen Science Garden Project Training, Bisbee, Cochise County AZ. Gardenroots: A Citizen Science Garden Project. Bisbee, Cochise County AZ: Gardenroots: A Citizen Science Garden Project sponosored by Superfund Research Program and the Center for Sustainable Mining.
• Ramirez, M. D., Eitemiller, R., Long, J., Soleri, D., Iwasaki, P., & Pandya, R. (2015, February). Pathways to more equitable and productive partnerships: Join us in a World Café to discuss how we can overcome barriers to participation in ‘citizen’ science. US Citizen Science ConferenceUS Citizen Science Association.
• Ramirez, M. D., Gerhardstein, B., Eitemiller, R., Wilkinson, S., & Pease, A. (2015, August). Transdisciplinary Collaborations to Enhance Interactions with Communities at Contaminated Sites. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Community Involvement Conference. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
• Ramirez, M. D., O'Fallon, L., & Wylie, S. (2015, February). Using a Citizen Science Approach to Change the Face of Environmental Public Health Research. US Citizen Science ConferenceUS Citizen Science Association.

Poster Presentations

• Alqattan, Z., Bohlman, M., Walls, D., & Ramirez, M. D. (2022).

  X-ray Fluorescence Reliability for Metal(loid) Detection and the Determination of Community Soil Enrichment Factor

  . Geological Society of AmericaGeological Society of America.
• Anides Morales, A., Isaacs, K., Walls, R. L., Wood, J., Tra, T., Kaufmann, D., & Ramirez, M. D. (2022). Building an Environmental Health Mapping Tool for Arizona Communities Through Data Integration and Community Science. . Superfund Research Program Annual Meeting. Raleigh, NC: National Institute of Environmental Sciences.
• Chukwuonye, G. G., Palawat, K., Root, R. A., & Ramirez, M. D. (2022). Metals in rooftop harvesting rainwater from environmental justice communities: Contaminant patterns and stakeholder impacts. . ASA, CSSA, and SSSA Annual MeetingASA, CSSA, and SSSA Annual Meeting.
• Mesa, J., Guptill, A., Alshuli, T., Miller, D., Hoover, H., Sandhaus, S., Buxner, S. R., & Ramirez, M. D. (2022). Co-Created Community Science to Action: Environmental Health Literacy Outcomes. . ASA, CSSA, and SSSA Annual Meeting. Baltimore, MD: ASA, CSSA, and SSSA Annual Meeting.
• Muñoz, H., Trahan, A., & Ramirez, M. D. (2022). Environmental Health Catalyst: Visualizing and analyzing bioavailable soil contamination for industry action in mining communities.. Geological Society of AmericaGeological Society of America..
• Ramirez, M. D., Walls, D., Kinchy, A., Ureta, S., Engel-Di Mauro, S., Margalit, T., Price, H., & Xy, C. (2022). Collaborative Soil Workshops on Lead and Arsenic in Urban Green Spaces.. U.S. Citizen Science AssociationU.S. Citizen Science Association..
• Zeider, K., Manjon, I., Overmeiren, N., Rine, K., Sandhaus, S., Betterton, E. A., Saez, A. E., Sorooshian, A., Henry, M., & Ramirez, M. D. (2022). Foliar surfaces as aerosol pollution monitors: Methodological validation, enrichment, and factors influencing foliar retention.. Superfund Research Program Annual Meeting. Raleigh, NC: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
• Abrell, L. M., Villagomez-Marquez, N., Henson, C., Palawat, K., Foley, T., Chorover, J. D., & Ramirez, M. D. (2021). Measurement and characterization of PFAS and organic contaminants in citizen scientists' roof harvested rainwater. 69th ASMS Conference on Mass Spectrometry and Allied Topics.. Philadelphia, PA: 69th ASMS Conference on Mass Spectrometry and Allied Topics.
• Abrell, L. M., Villagomez-Marquez, N., Henson, C., Palawat, K., Foley, T., Chorover, J. D., & Ramirez, M. D. (2021). Measurement and characterization of PFAS and organic contaminants in citizen scientists' roof harvested rainwater. 69th ASMS Conference on Mass Spectrometry and Allied Topics. Philadelphia, PA.: 69th ASMS Conference on Mass Spectrometry and Allied Topics.
• Miller, D., & Ramirez, M. D. (2021). Participant Motivations and Outcomes in A Co-Created Citizen Science Project. BUILDing Scholars ProgramBUILDing Scholars Program..
• Ramirez, M. D., Ramirez, M. D., Abrell, L. M., Abrell, L. M., Buxner, S. R., Buxner, S. R., Cortez, I., Cortez, I., Davis, L., Davis, L., Dewey, M., Dewey, M., Foley, T., Foley, T., Henriquez, P., Henriquez, P., Jones, M., Jones, M., Kaufmann, D., , Kaufmann, D., et al. (2021). Engaging Diverse Communities for Environmental Health Justice. National Science Foundation’s AISL PI meetingNational Science Foundation.
• Buxner, S. R., Davis, L. F., Ramirez, M. D., Sandhaus, S., Lippert, N., Kaufmann, D., Mohr-Felsen, A., Anides Morales, A., & Palawat, K. (2020, October). Project Harvest: Outcomes from Co- Created Environmental Health Literacy Citizen Science.. 49th Annual North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) Conference.. virtual: North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE).
• Henson, C., Ramirez, M. D., Sandoval, F., Villagomez-Marquez, N., Abrell, L. M., Root, R. A., Buxner, S. R., Mclain, J. E., Kilungo, A. P., Kilungo, A. P., Mclain, J. E., Buxner, S. R., Root, R. A., Abrell, L. M., Villagomez-Marquez, N., Sandoval, F., Henson, C., Ramirez, M. D., Henson, C., , Villagomez-Marquez, N., et al. (2020, October). Per-polyfluoroalkyl substances in roof-harvested rainwater. Emerging Contaminants Summit. Westminster, Colorado (Virtual).
• Mendoza, C., Ramirez, M. D., & Root, R. A. (2020). Arsenic Field-Test Kits Provide Rapid and Accurate Results in Harvested Rainwater. ASA, CSSA and SSSA International Annual MeetingASA, CSSA and SSSA International Annual Meeting.
• Moses, A. J., Abrell, L. M., Buxner, S. R., Kilungo, A. P., Mclain, J. E., Obergh, V., Root, R. A., Sandoval, F., Ramirez, M. D., Moses, A. J., Abrell, L. M., Buxner, S. R., Kilungo, A. P., Mclain, J. E., Obergh, V., Root, R. A., Sandoval, F., & Ramirez, M. D. (2020, November). Indicator organism presence in urban and rural Arizona community garden soils watered with harvested rainwater. ASA-CSSA-SSSA International Annual Meetings. Virtual: Agronomy Societies.
• Moses, A. J., Ramirez, M. D., Mclain, J. E., & Kilungo, A. P. (2020, Fall). Understanding the microbial makeup and risks of alternative water sources in romaine lettuce and cilantro crops. American Public Health Association Annual Meeting and Expo. Virtual: APHA - American Public Health Association.
• Palawat, K., Mohr-Felsen, A., Sandhaus, S., Kaufmann, D., Buxner, S. R., & Ramirez, M. D. (2020, October). Who Participates in Citizen Science? A Sociodemographic Analysis.. 9th Annual North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) Symposium.. virutal: North American Association for Environmental Education.
• Palawat, K., Root, R. A., & Ramirez, M. D. (2020). Co-created citizen science to understand the quality of harvested rainwater and influential predictors for current and future irrigation use. American Geophysical UnionAmerican Geophysical Union.
• Sonia, M., Abrell, L. M., Villagomez-Marquez, N., Palawat, K., Ramirez, M. D., Mclain, J. E., Root, R. A., Buxner, S. R., Kilungo, A. P., & Flor, S. (2020, August). What's in your rainwater? Inorganic and organic contaminants measured in roof-harvested rainwater. KEYS Research Internship Showcase. Tucson, Arizona (Virtual): Keep Engaging Youth in Science Internship Program.
• Villagomez-Marquez, N., Abrell, L. M., Buxner, S. R., Kilungo, A. P., Mclain, J. E., Root, R. A., Flor, S., Ramirez, M. D., Chorover, J. D., Villagomez-Marquez, N., Abrell, L. M., Buxner, S. R., Kilungo, A. P., Mclain, J. E., Root, R. A., Flor, S., Ramirez, M. D., & Chorover, J. D. (2020, October). Pesticides detected in roof-harvested rainwater in rural and urban Arizona communities. Emerging Contaminants Summit. Westminster, Colorado (Virtual).
• Villagómez-Márquez, N., Abrell, L. M., Buxner, S. R., Kilungo, A. P., Mclain, J. E., Root, R. A., & Ramirez, M. D. (2020, March). Emerging contaminants in Roof-harvested Rainwater. Emerging Contaminants Summit. Westminster, CO: Federallabs.
• Ramirez, M. D., Davis, L. F., Buxner, S. R., Kaufmann, D., Morales, A., & Sandhaus, S. (2019, December). Characterizing the Role Art Can Play in Knowledge Retention and Environmental Self- and Community Efficacy: Placed-Based Data Sharing Efforts for and With Communities. American Geophysical Union. San Francisco, CA: American Geophysical Union..
• Alfaifi, T., Root, R. A., & Ramirez, M. D. (2018, April). Translocation assessment of Al, Zn, As,Pb,Ni and Cd in three culturally relevant crops: sesame (Sesamum indicum), corchorus (Corchorus olitorius), and arugula (Eruca vesicaria). SWESx. The University of Arizona.
• Kaufmann, A., Issacs, K., & Ramirez, M. D. (2018, May). Designing A Privacy-Preserving Geovisualization Of Citizen-Collected Environmental Data. University of Arizona Honors College Showcase.
• Manjon, I., Reynolds, P., Hild, J., & Ramirez, M. D. (2018, April). Estimating Potential Arsenic and Cadmium Exposure of Preschool-Aged Children Using a Dietary Assessment. SWESx. The University of Arizona.
• Moreno Ramirez, D., Herrera, Y., Ramirez, M. D., Navarro- McElhaney, K., Nichter, M., & Maier, R. M. (2018, April). Voices Unheard: Documenting the Human Experience of Living near Arizona Superfund Sites. SWESx. The University of AZ.
• Moses, A., Solis, J., Abrell, L. M., Buxner, S. R., Kilungo, A. P., Mclain, J. E., Root, R. A., Sandoval, F., & Ramirez, M. D. (2018, April). The Volunteer Army: A Review of Ethical Concerns in Citizen Science.. SWESx. University of Arizona.
• Ramirez, M. D., Ramirez, M. D., Sandoval, F., Sandoval, F., Root, R. A., Root, R. A., Mclain, J. E., Mclain, J. E., Kilungo, A. P., Kilungo, A. P., Buxner, S. R., Buxner, S. R., Abrell, L. M., Abrell, L. M., Solis-Leon, J., Solis-Leon, J., Moses, A., & Moses, A. (2018, March). The volunteer army: a review of ethical concerns in citizen science. Science of the Environment Earth Day Poster Presentation. Tucson, Arizona: University of Arizona Department of Soil, Water and Environmental Science.
• Ramirez, M. D., Sandoval, F., Root, R. A., Mclain, J. E., Kilungo, A. P., Buxner, S. R., Abrell, L. M., Montijo, F., & Villagomez-Marquez, N. (2018, March). Investigating emerging organic contaminants in harvested rainwater via co-created citizen science: what is in your rainwater?. Science of the Environment Earth Day Poster Presentation. Tucson, Arizona: University of Arizona Department of Soil, Water and Environmental Science.
• Ramirez, M. D., Sandoval, F., Root, R. A., Mclain, J. E., Kilungo, A. P., Buxner, S. R., Abrell, L. M., Moses, A., & Solis-Leon, J. (2018, March). Socio-demographics in citizen science: does governance model matter?. Science of the Environment Earth Day Poster Presentation. Tucson, Arizona: University of Arizona Department of Soil, Water and Environmental Science.
• Sandhaus, S., Kaufmann, D., Davis, L., Abrell, L. M., Buxner, S. R., Kilungo, A. P., Mclain, J. E., Ramirez, M. D., Root, R. A., & Sandoval, F. (2018, May). Advancing Informal Environmental Health STEM Learning through Co-Created Citizen Science. Teaching and Learning in the Food-Energy-Water Nexus: Toward a National and Collaborative for Food, Energy and Water Systems (NC-FEW).. Washington, DC.
• Soli-Leon, J., Moses, A., Abrell, L. M., Buxner, S. R., Kilungo, A. P., Mclain, J. E., Root, R. A., Sandoval, F., & Ramirez, M. D. (2018, April). Socio-demographics in Citizen Science: Does Governance Model Matter. SWESx. University of AZ.
• Villagómez-Márquez, N., Montijo, F., Abrell, L. M., Buxner, S. R., Kilungo, A. P., Mclain, J. E., Root, R. A., Sandoval, F., & Ramirez, M. D. (2018, April). Investigating emerging organic contaminants in harvested rainwater via Co-Created Citizen Science: What is in your rainwater?. SWESx. The University of Arizona.
• Alfaifi, T., Root, R., & Ramirez, M. D. (2017, March). Investigating Arsenic, Lead and Mercury in Sesame Plants. University of Arizona SWESx.
• Hard, H. R., Brusseau, M. L., & Ramirez, M. D. (2017, March). The Feasibility of Using a Closed Landfill as Graze Land. University of Arizona SWESx.. University of Arizona SWESx.University of Arizona SWESx..
• Manjon, I., Betterton, E. A., Saez, A. E., & Ramirez, M. D. (2017, March). Assessing the Capability of Plants as In-Situ Air Pollution Monitors: A Pilot Study Conducted in Arizona.. University of Arizona SWESxUniversity of Arizona SWESx.
• Moreno Ramirez, D., Herrera, Y., Ramirez, M. D., K, N. M., Nichter, M., & Maier, R. M. (2017, March). Voices Unheard: Documenting the Human Experience of Living near Arizona Superfund Sites. University of Arizona SWESxUniversity of Arizona SWESx.
• Ramirez, M. D., Bohlman, M., Sandhaus, S., & Kaufmann, D. (2017, December). Building a Culture of Health in the Green: Gardens as Hubs for Citizen Science and Environmental Health Literacy Efforts in Underserved Communities. NIEHS Superfund Research Program Annual Meeting. Research Triangle Park, NC.: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
• Sandhaus, S., Ramirez, M. D., Kilungo, A. P., Wolf, A. M., Sandoval, F., & Henriquez, P. (2017, March). Evaluating the Motivations, Knowledge, and Efficacy of Participants in Environmental Health Citizen Science Projects. University of Arizona SWESxUniversity of Arizona SWESx.
• Alfaifi, T., & Ramirez, M. D. (2016, February). Investigating Arsenic, Lead and Mercury Accumulation In Culturally Relevant Crops And Low-Cost Environmental Public Health Intervention Strategies. SWESx.
• Alfaifi, T., & Ramirez, M. D. (2016, November). Investigating Arsenic, Lead and Mercury Accumulation In Culturally Relevant Crops And Low-Cost Environmental Public Health Intervention Strategies. American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America International Annual Meeting.. Phoenix, AZ: American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America.
• Bohlman, M., & Ramirez, M. D. (2016, February). Gardenroots: The Arizona Garden Project – A Co-Created Citizen Science Project in Apache, Cochise and Greenlee County. SWESx.
• Bohlman, M., & Ramirez, M. D. (2016, November). Gardenroots: The Arizona Garden Project – A Co-Created Citizen Science Project in Apache, Cochise and Greenlee County. American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America International Annual Meeting. Phoenix, AZ: American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America.
• Göbel, C., Ramirez, M. D., & Matin, V. (2016, May). Stakeholder Analysis on International Citizen Science Data & Metadata Standardization. International Conference of the European Citizen Science Association. Berlin: European Citizen Science Association.
• Hard, H. R., & Ramirez, M. D. (2016, November). Trace Element Concentrations in Tucson Kale: Community Gardens vs. Grocery. American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America International Annual Meeting.. Phoenix, AZ: American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America.
• McClelland, J., & Ramirez, M. D. (2016, March). A Binational Inter-Professional Service Learning Experience in Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Mexico: The Power of Team Work Across the US-Mexico Border. Fourth Annual Interprofessional Rural Health Professions Conference.
  More info

  AUTHORS: Jean McClelland, Tracy Carroll, Kenneth S. Ramos, Janet Cooley, Elizabeth Hall-Lipsy, Monica Ramirez-Andreotta, Sherry Daniels, Marylyn McEwen (College of Nursing); Jill Guernsey de Zapien, Irma N. Ramos, Violeta Dominguez and Jenny Winkler, Socorro Medécigo, Eva Moncada, Aline Gomez Maqueo Chew, Marla Bustamante and Raul Medécigo, Miguel Angel Torres, Teodoro Hernandez and Elizabeth McPherson, Patricia Aranda, Isabel Ortega, Erin Sol, Gail Emrick. A Binational Inter-Professional Service Learning Experience in Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Mexico: The Power of Team Work Across the US-Mexico Border. Fourth Annual Interprofessional Rural Health Professions Conference, Tucson, AZ.
• Moreno Ramirez, D., Maier, R. M., Nichter, M., Ramirez, M. D., Herrera, Y., & Navarro-McElhaney, K. (2016, December). Voices Unheard: Documenting the Human Experience of Living Near Arizona Superfund Sites. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Environmental Health Science FEST. Durham, NC: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2016, December). Community Gathering and Data Sharing: Greenlee County. Gardenroots: A Citizen Science Garden Project. Morenci, AZ: Gardenroots: A Citizen Science Garden Project sponosored by Superfund Research Program and the Center for Sustainable Mining.
• Ramirez, M. D., Artiola, J. F., Brusseau, M. L., & Maier, R. M. (2016, December). The Spectrum of Participation and the Role of the Stakeholder in Theory and Practice.. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Environmental Health Science FEST. Durham, NC: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
• Sandhaus, S., Ramirez, M. D., Wolf, A. M., Morales, F., Palmira, H., & Kilungo, A. P. (2016, November). Evaluating the Motivations, Knowledge, and Efficacy of Participants in Environmental Health Citizen Science Projects.. American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America International Annual Meeting.. Phoenix, AZ: American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America.

Creative Productions

• Ramirez, M. D. (2024. STEAM in Action website.
• Kaufmann, D., Ramirez, M. D., & King, M. (2023. Project Harvest Website. College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Communications and Cyber Technologies, University of Arizona.. https://projectharvest.arizona.edu/
• Ramirez, M. D. (2023. Rethinking Fires, Floods, and Health Website.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2022. Ramírez-Andreotta Laboratory website.
• Chief, K., & Ramirez, M. D. (2020. An interview with Dr. Karletta Chief. KXCI Thesis Thursdays. https://kxci.org/podcast/karletta-chief/
  More info

  Chief, K., and M. Ramirez-Andreotta. 2020. An interview with Dr. Karletta Chief. KXCI Thesis Thursdays, May 6, 2020. https://kxci.org/podcast/karletta-chief/
• Ramirez, M. D. (2020. Episode 13 – Unlawful Entry: Toxic Trespass in American Soils. Journal of the SouthwestSouthwest Center, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. https://jsw.arizona.edu/multimedia/podcasts/
• Ramirez, M. D. (2020. Gardenroots Website. College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Communications and Cyber Technologies, University of Arizona.. https://gardenroots.arizona.edu/
• Stories., L. (2020. A Dancing Scientist - Video. Landmark Stories. College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, University of Arizona.Landmark Stories Video. College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, University of Arizona.. https://youtu.be/ASYtUBhoua8
  More info

  Features my work and former student, Jesus Solis-Leon

Other Teaching Materials

• Ramirez, M. D. (2016. Guest Educator (liquid nitrogen experiments). Acacia Elementary School, Vail, AZ.

Others

• Ramirez, M. D. (2019, December). Mentor. Doris Duke Conservation scholars Program at Northern Arizona University Winter Retreat.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2018, April). Workshop on Citizen Science and the Food System. University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii..
  More info

  Workshop on Citizen Science and the Food System, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii. April 2018. Invited Participant.
• Ramirez, M. D. (2018, July 2018 - September 2018). Organized a three-part Environmental Health and Mining Series regarding air, water, and soil quality with the Concerned Citizens & Retired Miners Coalition. Superior, AZ (average attendance N=26).
  More info

  Organized a three-part Environmental Health and Mining Series regarding air, water, and soil quality with the Concerned Citizens & Retired Miners Coalition. On average, 26 community members attended. This educational and engagement effort led to a new partnership; after Ramirez-Andreotta attended five quarterly meetings with the Coalition, community members requested Gardenroots: A Citizen Science Garden Project in Superior.Community members in Superior, Arizona, collected and sent in water, soil and dust samples in August 2019 as part of a community movement to understand the environmental impact that past mining has on their area. This community involvement is thanks to the partnership formed between the Concerned Citizens & Retired Miners Coalition in Superior and Dr. Monica Ramirez-Andreotta with the University of Arizona Superfund Research Project (UA SRP).Superior, a mining town in Pinal County known for the Silver Queen and later the Magma mines, reached out to UA SRP in early 2018 with concerns about their soil and air quality. After a few initial teleconferences, Ramirez-Andreotta co-organized and co-hosted a three-part “Environmental Health and Mining Series” with the Concerned Citizens & Retired Miners Coalition to present three topics: “Mining Activities and Soil Quality” by Drs. Ramirez-Andreotta and Brusseau on July 25, 2018, “Impacts of Mining Operations and Air Quality” by Eduardo Saez on August 22, 2018, and “Impacts of Mining Operations and Water Quality” by Janick Artiola on September 26, 2018.“It is an incredible honor to be working with such a passionate group of concerned citizens and retired miners who want the younger generations and new families moving into the area to be aware of the mining legacy and potential for environmental exposure,” says Ramirez-Andreotta.And so, with support from UA SRP, the Arizona Technology Research Initiative Funds provided through the Water, Environmental, and Energy Solutions Initiative, and a small seed grant from the University of Arizona’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Ramirez-Andreotta hosted a community training on how to properly collect water, soil and dust samples and distributed sampling kits in July 2019. A total of 19 community samples were returned for metal(loid) analyses on August 24, 2019.Students in the Ramirez-Andreotta and Saez/Betterton lab will work together to prepare and process the samples. Following the Gardenroots methodology and tradition, once the samples are successfully prepared, analyzed and interpreted/translated, all the results will be shared with the participating community members.
• Ramirez, M. D., & Moreno Ramirez, D. (2016, October). Table Presenter, Agua Fria Festival, Dewey-Humboldt, Arizona. Agua Fria Festival, Dewey-Humboldt, Arizona.