Project: WHCOHH - Community Engagement Core

The overall goal of the Woods Hole Center for Oceans and Human Health Community Engagement Core (CEC) is to facilitate and improve communication, information exchange, and resource sharing among entities responsible for monitoring and managing HABs in the Northeast, as well as public engagement and outreach about HABs, seafood safety, and WHCOHH research. The activities in the CEC are based on the premise that communication and education through multiple avenues and to multiple interest groups will improve awareness of HAB issues and management of resources, to the long-term benefit of public health. Our ultimate objective is to prevent human heath exposure to HAB toxins by strengthening public and stakeholder knowledge about HABs and their impacts, fostering collaboration among stakeholders as well as bi-directional dialogue with WHCOHH researchers, and improving awareness of emerging issues within the public health community.  Our efforts are local, regional, and national in scope, and will integrate and extend established HAB outreach programs, capabilities, and infrastructure. Multiple HABs and toxins affect the Northeast including saxitoxins and PSP and domoic acid and ASP, the primary subjects in the research projects. Other toxiins also are potential threats to seafood safety including diarrhetic shellfish poisoning (DSP) caused by Dinophysis spp. that produce okadaic acid (OA) and related compounds. While not directly part of the research effort, DSP toxin issues also will be communicated to resources managers, health professionals, and the general public.

The CEC has three primary goals: (1) improve public knowledge about HABs and their impacts through outreach to the general public and engagement at the K-12 educational level, and increase awareness within medical and clinical communities about current and emerging HAB issues; (2) increase communication and resource sharing among managers and organizations involved in HAB monitoring and event response to benefit public health and seafood safety in the Northeast; (3) foster dialogue between stakeholders and WHCOHH researchers for the discussion of research translation and findings, and promote community engagement in WHCOHH research through interactive displays and “citizen science” content; and (4) evaluate successes and shortcomings of various CEC approaches and provide recommendations for successful CE in other regions affected by HABs.