BARA Teams with SERI for HUD Grant
The Sonora Environmental Research Institute, Inc. (SERI), a Tucson-based nonprofit organization dedicated to utilizing community participatory research to support disadvantaged and marginalized communities in solving their environmental challenges and build healthy and safe neighborhoods, has been awarded $624,250 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The research, led by Ann Marie Wolf, SERI President and Principal Investigator, aims to determine the effectiveness and longevity of healthy homes interventions and education for reducing unintentional injuries and fires resulting from housing-related hazards, and determining the barriers and incentives affecting future use of these cost-effective strategies. Building on a long-term collaborative partnership between SERI and the Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology (BARA), Diane Austin will serve as a Co-Principal Investigator for the project, which also includes School of Anthropology alums: Ben McMahan, Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Assistant Research Professor (CLIMAS / BARA), and Amanda Hilton, BARA Researcher; and Flor Sandoval, SERI Program Director. The project builds on a previously awarded HUD Healthy Homes Production grant, in which SERI assessed 2,985 low-income households, addressed significant hazards, installed smoke alarms, and distributed an educational packet highlighting methods to make residents’ homes healthier. (Anthro News Digest date: 02/26/2021)