Environmental Health and Protection Commons^™

Environmental Justice And Ecology In Social Work Education: Emerging Trends Among Faculty., Keri Otte

Doctor of Social Work Capstone Projects

March 31, 2025

This paper presents a study of how social work educators in the U.S. are integrating environmental justice and ecological content into social work coursework and /or curriculum. Current literature in this area suggests that educators should be incorporating deep ecology philosophy, using experiential learning techniques, and moving away from anthropocentrism towards ecocentrism. Ten semi-structured interviews were conducted to gather data on pedagogical approaches, educator knowledge and previous training, and barriers to content integration. The interviews took place virtually with social work educators from five geographical areas in the United States. The findings illustrate the importance of transformative …

Assessing Sustainability Within The Brewing Industry: A Literature Review And Benchmarking Analysis., Elijah Thomas Miller

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The goals of this study were twofold: to further examine sustainability within the brewing industry through a literature analysis across four academic journals, and a benchmarking analysis of a Louisville, Kentucky brewery’s resource consumption and emissions production. Publications related to the brewing industry were examined for the presence of sustainability keywords: “efficiency, sustainability, carbon footprint, climate change and greenhouse gas”. Benchmarking examined the local brewery’s primary production facility to determine their performance compared to other surveyed breweries pursuing sustainability across the country. Literature examination found noticeable discrepancies between the appearance of sustainability topics within article abstracts and their discussion within …

Predictive Power Of Wastewater For Nowcasting Infectious Disease Transmission: A Retrospective Case Study Of Five Sewershed Areas In Louisville, Kentucky., Fayette Klaassen, Rochelle H. Holm, Ted Smith, Ted Cohen, Aruni Bhatnagar, Nicolas A. Menzies

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Background: Epidemiological nowcasting traditionally relies on count surveillance data. The availability and quality of such count data may vary over time, limiting representation of true infections. Wastewater data correlates with traditional surveillance data and may provide additional value for nowcasting disease trends. Methods: We obtained SARS-CoV-2 case, death, wastewater, and serosurvey data for Jefferson County, Kentucky (USA), between August 2020 and March 2021, and parameterized an existing nowcasting model using combinations of these data. We assessed the predictive performance and variability at the sewershed level and compared the effects of adding or replacing wastewater data to case and death reports. …

Microbial Community Function And Bacterial Pathogen Composition In Pit Latrines In Peri-Urban Malawi., Savanna K. Smith, Benjamin B. Risk, Rochelle H. Holm, Elizabeth Tilley, Petros Chigwechokha, Drew Capone, Joe Brown, Francis L. De Los Reyes Iii

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Despite the widespread global reliance on pit latrines as improved sanitation systems, the decomposition of waste within pit latrines is poorly understood. One area needing elucidation is the characterization and function of microbial communities within pit latrines. To address this gap, we characterized the microbial communities of 55 lined pit latrines at three sampling layers from two communities in peri-urban Malawi. The microbial communities of the fecal sludge samples were analyzed for beta diversity, pathogen presence, and functional profiling. Household surveys were conducted and used to compare microbial community patterns to household characteristics and pit latrine use patterns. Compared to …

Addressing The Challenges Of Establishing Quality Wastewater Or Non- Sewered Sanitation-Based Surveillance, Including Laboratory And Epidemiological Considerations, In Malawi., Rochelle H. Holm, Ruth Nyirenda, Ted Smith, Petros Chigwechokha

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Learning from clinical laboratories, wastewater or environmental (including non-sewered sanitation) environmental microbiology laboratories can be established in resource-limited settings that focus on pathogen detection and pandemic prevention. Transparent discussions on the laboratory challenges and adaptations required for this can help meet the future requirements of health research and surveillance. This report aims to describe the challenges encountered when setting up a wastewater or environmental laboratory for multipathogen surveillance in Malawi, a resource-limited setting, as well as the lessons learnt. We identified nine unifying themes: what to monitor, human resource capacity, indicators of data quality, equipment availability, supply of consumable goods, …

A Citizen Science Experiment: How Well Do Park Visitors Identify Wetland Health?, Madison Cicha, Kassidy Haynes, Andrew Mehring, Mark Tierney, Andrea Gaughan Phd

The Cardinal Edge

Citizen science refers to a discipline of scientific projects that utilize public participation and collaboration to complete or supplement a collected data set. Our study as a whole aims to assess the greenhouse gas (GHG) source-sink status of small, constructed wetlands in Kentucky through field and remotely sensed data. Additional facets of the project include evaluating the influence of the primary producer community on GHG uptake and emissions, and our ability to identify healthy small wetlands from science and community-based perspectives. Specifically, the citizen science aspect intends to assess both (1) gaps between knowledge of the general public regarding wetland …

Beyond Covid-19: Designing Inclusive Public Health Surveillance By Including Wastewater Monitoring., Rochelle H. Holm, Na'taki Osborne Jelks, Rebecca Schneider, Ted Smith

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Wastewater-based epidemiology is a promising and expanding public health surveillance method. The current wastewater testing trajectory to monitor primarily at community wastewater treatment plants was necessitated by immediate needs of the pandemic. Going forward, specific consideration should be given to monitoring vulnerable and underserved communities to ensure inclusion and rapid response to public health threats. This is particularly important when clinical testing data are insufficient to characterize community virus levels and spread in specific locations. Now is a timely call to action for equitably protecting health in the United States, which can be guided with intentional and inclusive wastewater monitoring.

Online Dashboards For Sars-Cov-2 Wastewater Data Need Standard Best Practices: An Environmental Health Communication Agenda., Colleen C. Naughton, Rochelle H. Holm, Nancy J. Lin, Brooklyn P. James, Ted Smith

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the benefits of wastewater surveillance to supplement clinical data. Numerous online information dashboards have been rapidly, and typically independently, developed to communicate environmental surveillance data to public health officials and the public. In this study, we review dashboards presenting SARS-CoV-2 wastewater data and propose a path toward harmonization and improved risk communication. A list of 127 dashboards representing 27 countries was compiled. The variability was high and encompassed aspects including the graphics used for data presentation (e.g., line/bar graphs, maps, and tables), log versus linear scale, and 96 separate ways of labeling SARS-CoV-2 wastewater concentrations. …

Rapid Assesment Of Aquatic Insect Diversity And Abundance Used To Evaluate The Quality Of Stream Restoration, Kaleb Stephen Kindoll

2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference

Stream and wetland restoration activities seek to improve the function of aquatic ecosystems. Measurement of the diversity and abundance of aquatic insects are commonly used to evaluate the success of restoration efforts, but these measurements are often very time consuming. In this study, we attempt to construct an efficient method that can be used to rapidly assess the diversity and abundance of aquatic insects as a measure of the quality of stream restoration. We suspended uniform sized pieces of cardboard paper coated with adhesive to trap insects in three different environments: one restored and two unrestored streams with similar characteristics. …

Generative Ai As A Tool For Environmental Health Research Translation., Lauren B. Anderson, Dhiraj Kanneganti, Mary Bentley Houk, Rochelle H. Holm, Ted Smith

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

One valuable application for generative artificial intelligence (AI) is summarizing research studies for non-academic readers. We submitted five articles to Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer (ChatGPT) for summarization, and asked the article's author to rate the summaries. Higher ratings were assigned to more insight-oriented activities, such as the production of eighth-grade reading level summaries, and summaries highlighting the most important findings and real-world applications. The general summary request was rated lower. For the field of environmental health science, no-cost AI technology such as ChatGPT holds the promise to improve research translation, but it must continue to be improved (or improve itself) …

Environmental Health Justice Across The Globe., Arnita Gadson, Rochelle H. Holm

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Detection Of Human, Porcine And Canine Picornaviruses In Municipal Sewage Sludge Using Pan-Enterovirus Amplicon-Based Long-Read Illumina Sequencing., Temitope O. C. Faleye, Erin M. Driver, Devin A. Bowes, Rochelle H. Holm, Daymond Talley, Ray Yeager, Aruni Bhatnagar, Ted Smith, Arvind Varsani, Rolf U. Halden, Matthew Scotch

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

We describe the successful detection of human, porcine and canine picornaviruses (CanPV) in sewage sludge (at each stage of treatment) from Louisville, Kentucky, USA, using Pan-enterovirus amplicon-based long-read Illumina sequencing. Based on publicly available sequence data in GenBank, this is the first detection of CanPV in the USA and the first detection globally using wastewater-based epidemiology. Our findings also suggest there might be clusters of endemic porcine enterovirus (which have been shown capable of causing systemic infection in porcine) circulation in the USA that have not been sampled for around two decades. Our findings highlight the value of WBE coupled …

Estimating Sewage Flow Rate In Jefferson County, Kentucky, Using Machine Learning For Wastewater-Based Epidemiology Applications., Dhiraj Kanneganti, Lauren E. Reinersman, Rochelle H. Holm, Ted Smith

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Direct measurement of the flow rate in sanitary sewer lines is not always feasible and is an important parameter for the normalization of data used in wastewater-based epidemiology applications. Machine learning to estimate past wastewater influent flow rates supporting public health applications has not been studied. The aim of this study was to assess wastewater treatment plant influent flow rates when compared with weather data and to retrospectively estimate flow rates in Louisville, Kentucky (USA), based on other data types using machine learning. A random forest model was trained using a range of variables, such as feces-related indicators, weather data …

Advancing The Use Of Fecal Sludge For Timelier And Better-Quality Epidemiological Data In Low- And Middle-Income Countries For Pandemic Prevention., Petros Chigwechokha, Renée Street, Rochelle H. Holm

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Detection Of Periodic Reemergence Events Of Sars-Cov-2 Delta Strain In Communities Dominated By Omicron., Claire E. Westcott, Kevin J. Sokoloski, Eric C. Rouchka, Julia H. Chariker, Rochelle H. Holm, Ray A. Yeager, Joseph B. Moore Iv, Erin M. Elliott, Daymond Talley, Aruni Bhatnagar

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Despite entering an endemic phase, SARS-CoV-2 remains a significant burden to public health across the global community. Wastewater sampling has consistently proven utility to understanding SARS-CoV-2 prevalence trends and genetic variation as it represents a less biased assessment of the corresponding communities. Here, we report that ongoing monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 genetic variation in samples obtained from the wastewatersheds of the city of Louisville in Jefferson county Kentucky has revealed the periodic reemergence of the Delta strain in the presence of the presumed dominant Omicron strain. Unlike previous SARS-CoV-2 waves/emergence events, the Delta reemergence events were geographically restricted in the community …

Nationwide Public Perceptions Regarding The Acceptance Of Using Wastewater For Community Health Monitoring In The United States., A. Scott Lajoie, Asli Aslan, Rochelle H. Holm, Lauren B. Anderson, Heather D. Ness, Ted Smith

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

To assess the levels of infection across communities during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, researchers have measured severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 RNA in feces dissolved in sewer water. This activity is colloquially known as sewer monitoring and is referred to as wastewater-based epidemiology in academic settings. Although global ethical principles have been described, sewer monitoring is unregulated for health privacy protection when used for public health surveillance in the United States. This study used Qualtrics XM, a national research panel provider, to recruit participants to answer an online survey. Respondents (N = 3,083) answered questions about their knowledge, …

Wastewater-Informed Public Health Intervention Playbook

Sustain Magazine

As the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic quickly spread from country to country and continent to continent in 2020, governments and scientists needed a way to track COVID-19 through populations in order to position public health interventions in the most impactful locations. Having a decision-based risk framework may help to guide policy creation that could minimize or prevent possible outbreaks and surges of infection within communities. The University of Louisville in partnership with Louisville’s Department of Public Health and Wellness tested this strategy in 2021 and 2022. This Wastewater-Informed Public Health Intervention Playbook describes the decisions and actions of that academic and public …

Quantifying The Relationship Between Sub-Population Wastewater Samples And Community-Wide Sars-Cov-2 Seroprevalence., Ted Smith, Rochelle H. Holm, Rachel J. Keith, Alok R. Amraotkar, Chance R. Alvarado, Krzysztof Banecki, Boseung Choi, Ian Santisteban, Adrienne M. Bushau-Sprinkle, Kathleen T. Kitterman, Joshua Fuqua, Krystal T. Hamorsky, Kenneth E. Palmer, J. Michael Brick, Aruni Bhatnagar, Grzegorz A. Rempala

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Robust epidemiological models relating wastewater to community disease prevalence are lacking. Assessments of SARS-CoV-2 infection rates have relied primarily on convenience sampling, which does not provide reliable estimates of community disease prevalence due to inherent biases. This study conducted serial stratified randomized samplings to estimate the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in 3717 participants and obtained weekly samples of community wastewater for SARS-CoV-2 concentrations in Jefferson County, KY (USA) from August 2020 to February 2021. Using an expanded Susceptible-Infected-Recovered model, the longitudinal estimates of the disease prevalence were obtained and compared with the wastewater concentrations using regression analysis. The model analysis …

Educating Sanitation Professionals: Moving From Stem To Specialist Training In Higher Education In Malawi., Brighton A. Chunga, David Mkwambisi, Cassandra L. Workman, Francis L. De Los Reyes Iii, Rochelle H. Holm

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) requires effective changes in multiple sectors including education, economics, and health. Malawi faces challenges in attaining the SDGs in general, and specifically in the sanitation sector. This paper aims to describe the existing landscape within public universities in Malawi to build a framework for training a cadre of locally trained experts. This is achieved by reviewing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) degree programmes and assessing the extent of inclusion of sanitation education. The historical compartmentalization of academic programmes has resulted in few programmes to build on. Deliberate investment is needed to …

Sars-Cov-2 Rna Abundance In Wastewater As A Function Of Distinct Urban Sewershed Size., Rochelle H. Holm, Anish Mukherjee, Jayesh P. Rai, Ray A. Yeager, Daymond Talley, Shesh N. Rai, Aruni Bhatnagar, Ted Smith

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

During the COVID-19 pandemic, wastewater-based epidemiology has emerged as a promising approach for monitoring SARS-CoV-2 prevalence on a community-level. Despite much being known about the utility of making these measurements in large wastewater treatment plants, little is known about the correlation with finer geographic resolution, such as those obtained through sewershed sub-area catchments. This study aims to identify community wastewater surveillance characteristics between sewershed areas that affect the strength of the association of SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection in a metropolitan area. For this, wastewater from 17 sewershed areas were sampled in Louisville/Jefferson County, Kentucky (USA), from August 2020 to April 2021 …

Surveillance Of Rnase P, Pmmov, And Crassphage In Wastewater As Indicators Of Human Fecal Concentration Across Urban Sewer Neighborhoods, Kentucky., Rochelle H. Holm, M. Nagarkar, R. A. Yeager, D. Talley, A. C. Chaney, J. P. Rai, A. Mukherjee, S. N. Rai, A. Bhatnagar, Ted Smith

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Wastewater surveillance has been widely used as a supplemental method to track the community infection levels of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. A gap exists in standardized reporting for fecal indicator concentrations, which can be used to calibrate the primary outcome concentrations from wastewater monitoring for use in epidemiological models. To address this, measurements of fecal indicator concentration among wastewater samples collected from sewers and treatment centers in four counties of Kentucky (N = 650) were examined. Results from the untransformed wastewater data over 4 months of sampling indicated that the fecal indicator concentration of human ribonuclease P (RNase …

Presence Of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 In Urban Streams Receiving Sewer Overflow, Louisville, Kentucky, Usa., Cullen Hunter

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Pathogens may enter surface waters as they are shed in human feces and potentially delivered to surface waters via sewer overflows, particularly in the eastern United States. This study examined of the presence of fecal indicators in two forks of Beargrass Creek in Louisville, Kentucky. Surface water grab samples (N=30), sediment samples, water quality, and a paired wastewater surveillance study were analyzed. SARS-CoV-2 was detected in a single stream sample despite ubiquitous presence of the virus within the area in wastewater and consistent evidence of a human fecal indicator. These findings demonstrate the need for more green and gray infrastructure …

How A Low-Cost Method For Cumulative Water-Sampling Shows Need For Improvement Of Legal Public-Contact Standards In The United States, Samuel C. Kessler

Grawemeyer Colloquium Papers

Across the world, it is estimated that 4.5 billion people live near water sources “impaired” for use or contact. Standards for human-interaction are established by international organizations such as the WHO, and legislative bodies from national to local levels with jurisdiction over the quality of our waterways to ensure public & environmental health. Standards are often assessed from “grab-samples” taken from a waterbody at a certain time, with a minimum number analyzed. Water-quality standards in the United States are enforced under the Clean Water Act (CWA) via the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), applying to “waters of the United States” (WOTUS). …

Analyzing The Effects Of Of Seasonal Land Cover And Precipitation On The Sediment Delivery Ratio Of An Agriculture Dominated Watershed., Jonah Liebman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Soil erosion is of escalating importance as increasing population and climate change have put increasing pressures on agricultural food production. Vegetation and precipitation are two factors that control the amount of soil erosion extant within a region. Sediment delivery ratios (SDRs) assess the ratio of soil eroded from a watershed system that is permanently removed from the system through stream sediment discharge. Using 1) river discharge and sediment concentration data and 2) the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE), this thesis analyzes fluctuations in monthly SDRs for an average hydroclimatological crop-harvest season for the Senachwine Creek watershed, IL. Through calculating …

The Belknap Campus And Metro Louisville Urban Heat Island Effect: Air And Ground Surface Temperature Analysis, Kenyetta Johnson

Undergraduate Arts and Research Showcase

Numerous studies show that urban morphologies and land covers generate excess heat emissions and retain heat relative to surrounding rural areas, known as the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect. Urban fabrics paved by concretes and asphalts absorbs solar radiation during solar peak then radiates heat after sundown. This study investigates temperature distribution data related to the UHI effect on the Belknap campus at the University of Louisville, which represents a small aerial sample of the Louisville metropolitan UHI effect. The objective of this study is to measure the reflectivity of ground surfaces and air temperatures on the Belknap campus during …

Sustainable Solutions, Fall/Winter 2020, Issue 41

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Environmentally Responsible Land Use, Spring/Summer 2010, Issue 22

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Sustainable Communities, Fall/Winter 2010, Issue 21

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Sustainable Building, Spring/Summer 2009, Issue 20

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Environmental History, Fall/Winter 2009, Issue 19

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.