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MISSOULA – A Ñý¼§Ö±²¥ program that works to excite middle and high school Ñý¼§Ö±²¥ about hands-on science recently earned $1.3 million from the National Institutes of Health.

The five-year award supports UM’s Research Education on Air and Climate Change Health program, which engages Ñý¼§Ö±²¥ in inquiry-based activities and experiences related to climate change, wildfires and public health. It also provides teachers with professional development opportunities.

Program manager Kristen Cram said REACH will work with middle and high school Ñý¼§Ö±²¥ across Montana, Idaho, Alaska and Hawaii. She said the program sparks interest in STEM fields so Ñý¼§Ö±²¥ are targeted toward the public health workforce – especially in rural and tribal areas.

“What excites us most about this award is our potential to help communities who are the most affected by climate change, poor health care infrastructure and provider shortages,” Cram said. “We hope by engaging Ñý¼§Ö±²¥ in the topics of climate change and public health – and having them conduct their own research and communicate their findings – that they will develop an interest in the sciences and science careers while also spreading important health messages withing their communities.”

REACH Ñý¼§Ö±²¥ often study tiny airborne particles (PM2.5) that result from the increasing wildfires due to climate change. She said the Ñý¼§Ö±²¥ and their teachers employ wearable PM2.5 monitors, enabling Ñý¼§Ö±²¥ to design their own research projects, collect data, analyze results and present their findings in public settings.

Cram said the latest funding creates the fourth iteration of the program, which was first launched in 2003 after a local student requested to borrow air quality equipment from UM for a school research project. In that first year, 16 Ñý¼§Ö±²¥ from Missoula’s Big Sky High School participated.

“Now we are working with 25 schools, 35 teachers and 1,600 Ñý¼§Ö±²¥ annually throughout Montana, Alaska, Idaho and Hawaii,” she said. “With our updated program, we plan to leverage our previous REACH program and continue working with these school and recruit new schools.”

The original REACH programs were funded by National Institutes of Health Science Education Partnership Awards. Cram said the new funding continues the University’s SEPA programs, which are housed in the School of Public and Community Health Sciences.

She said the program will host online and in-person teacher workshops during the summer. In the fall, there are in-class presentations that demonstrate how to use REACH scientific equipment. During the winter, Ñý¼§Ö±²¥ use the equipment to collect data and develop a research project. Finally in the spring, Ñý¼§Ö±²¥ present their findings at a culminating event, such as UM’s Environmental Health Science Symposium.

Principal Investigator Tony Ward, a professor in the School of Public and Community Health Sciences, said the latest funding will bolster the SEPA program he built over two decades.

“We have a real opportunity to educate communities about ways of protecting themselves against future forest fire smoke events that are directly related to our changing climate,” Ward said. “This is a prestigious award, and we are excited to work with schools over the next five years.”

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Contact: Kristen Cram, program manager, UM Research Education on Air and Climate Change Health Program, 406-243-4084, kristen.cram@mso.umt.edu.