New Approaches to Engaging Data Practitioners with the NASA Health and Air Quality Applied Sciences Program (HAQAST)

The NASA Health and Air Quality Applied Sciences Team (HAQAST) connects researchers with non-academic partners to use satellite data to help solve real-world public health and air quality problems. HAQAST has 14 primary investigators and over 60 co-investigators including data users from a variety of organizations serving local, state, regional, international roles across air quality and health. Developing structures to facilitate two-way dialogue with researchers and non-academic partners is crucial for HAQAST projects to translate Earth Observations to into actionable information for decision-makers.

Within HAQAST, we implemented new approaches to keep partners engaged throughout the research process and learn how to best serve their needs. Stakeholder engagement occurs throughout the research process, both in-person and online, especially for the highly collaborative Tiger Teams. These teams incorporate user feedback from input at proposal writing, proposal selection, as well as involvement over the course of the projects. We also developed formal structures for dialogues with stakeholders at public meetings, and with the HAQAST Ambassador program. The increased quality of engagement led to the creation of more resources and opportunities to build capacity, including the tools to help new data users identify appropriate satellite data, and the Health and Air Quality Community Forum.

Through creating opportunities for dialogue, we have found ways to engage users at different levels, from novice to expert, and across disciplines and applications, including public health, environmental justice, atmospheric science, and air quality management. This presentation will describe lessons learned from several HAQAST projects and stakeholder engagement efforts, along with challenges and successes of translating research into decision-relevant tools.