Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute

Public Education and Risk Communication

A SUC2ES2 (Students Understanding Critical Connections between the Environment, Society and Self) program funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences partners the PERC Resource Center, the Woodbridge Township (NJ) School District, the New Jersey State Department of Education, the Graduate School of Education, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey and Rider University is developing integrative, environmental health curriculum for the district's second-, fifth- and seventh-grades.

Through the "ToxRAP™ Goes to Vieques" initiative, ToxRAP curriculum for grades K-9 is being translated into Spanish, with support from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry for dissemination to teachers in Vieques, Puerto Rico.

The HOPE (Health Observances and Public Education) Partnership, supported by a Science Education Partnership Award, a public health science education project designed to improve public understanding of the biomedical and health-related sciences and the impact of research on human health, while determining the most effective outreach methods to achieve this mission. Partner universities include Oregon State University; University of Arizona; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; University of Southern California/University of California, Los Angeles; University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center; University of Wisconsin-Madison; and Vanderbilt University.

Case Studies of the Public Health Response to WTC, supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences being designed to build upon the experiences of local health department personnel, elected officials, emergency responders or state-level public health officials in response to 9/11.

An annual Environmental Health Sciences Summer Institute for Educators, grades K-12, emphasizes hands-on activities, investigative experiments, role-play, roundtable discussions with Institute scientists and a tour of EOHSI facilities.

The Safe Schools Program supported by the New Jersey Department of Education, Office of Vocational-Technical, Career and Adult Programs provides occupational safety and health training in New Jersey schools for the past 15 years through free training, needs assessments, evaluation surveys, biennial newsletters, analysis of accident records and special task force committees.

Centers for Education and Training formed the Atlantic OSHA Training Center, one of 20 national OSHA-Sponsored Training Centers. Collaborators include with the University at Buffalo-Toxicology Research Center, New York City District Council Carpenters and Universidad Metropolitana (PR).

Centers for Education and Training support program for hazardous waste workers at Department of Energy sites throughout NJ, NY and Puerto Rico and to underemployed/unemployed minority youth in NYC and Newark through the New Jersey/New York Hazardous Materials Worker Training Center funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and NIOSH, in partnership with with the NJ State Police, Hunter College, NY Carpenters Labor Technical College, NY Committee for Occupational Safety and Health, University of Buffalo and Universidad Metropolitana.

Centers for Education and Training's Universities Occupational Safety and Health Education Research Center is one of 16 National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health-sponsored Education Research Centers located at universities throughout the US. The Center's consortium includes Hunter College School of Health Sciences, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New Jersey Institute of Technology and New York University.