EVEN Prof. Miller and Milford 2016-2017 received the CU Boulder Outreach Award for the following project:
Student Science for the Northeast Denver Community
Professor Jana Milford, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Environmental Engineering Program - Professor Shelly Miller, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Environmental Engineering Program - Assistant Professor Kevin O'Connor, School of Education
The primary goal of this collaboration is to engage Denver School of Science and Technology Cole High School students in meaningful community-centered scientific and engineering investigations. The students will use their inquiry skills to help their community understand and reduce the noise and air quality impacts of the proposed I-70 East construction project.
Through the collaboration, DSST Cole 11th grade students will also learn about:
• the physics and measurement of sound,
• measurement and effects of air pollution,
• associations between the physical environment, health, and well-being
• building personal-scale monitoring devices using Arduino platforms,
• design of experiments and analysis of measurement data, and
• community engagement.
The students will use smartphone and Arduino-based devices to measure noise and air quality in their community, including near schools that are heavily impacted by I-70 traffic and construction. We seek to enable students to deliver their data to public officials who can use it to inform decisions about I-70 project mitigation measures.
The collaboration also seeks to enable CU-Boulder faculty to pursue research into:
• the effectiveness of student-sourced citizen science for helping communities secure mitigation efforts for disruptive effects of public infrastructure projects, and
• the effectiveness of citizen science in motivating students to continue in STEM.