Student seeking volunteers for local air quality questionnaire
advisory and educational programs available in the valley.
As part of his thesis in experimental and applied psychological science, Josh Marquit is working in conjunction with the Bear River Health Department to receive feedback from residents regarding air quality.
“I approached the health department with the idea of looking at some of the various education programs implemented in the valley,” Marquit said. “We also wanted to look at whether or not they are effective in abating pollution.”
Using a database of all city blocks in Cache County, households are chosen at random to participate. The anonymous survey is left on door knobs for completion and is picked up at a later time. Marquit said they have received a good response – more than 100 people have participated.
Volunteers are also welcome to contribute. After an article ran in The Herald Journal, Marquit said around 50 people offered to also complete the survey.
Hoping to have at least 400 random questionnaires completed, Marquit said he is still welcoming volunteers. Those interested in participating can contact him at 797-8101 or jmarquit@cc.usu.edu.
In the survey, participants answer question regarding their perception of air quality problems, various impacts and their severity, and the effectiveness of strategies the health department uses to attempt to reduce air pollution. Questions dealing with pollution advisory and daily activities in respect to air cleanliness are also included.
The survey will be conducted for the next three months. Once the data has been configured, it will be posted on the Bear River Health Department’s Web site, www.brhd.org.
Grant Koford, an environmental health scientist with the health department, said the department will be using the results to further develop its education and warning systems. The health department will also have a better idea of the community’s feelings regarding the issue, their efforts to lower pollution and contributing factors to red and yellow days.
“(Marquit) is conducting the survey to get the opinions and attitudes of the folks in the community about air quality,” Koford said. “This will help gage public perception and public opinion on our efforts to curb the air quality problem. We will be using the results to customize our educational approaches and making them more effective.”
The greatest impact this survey can have is alerting Cache Valley residents to the gravity of the problem, Marquit said.
“I think the most important thing with the survey is to build awareness concerning problems and possible solutions,” he said. “It will build more awareness of this issue and more awareness of things to do to prevent red days from occurring.”
Marquit said citizens need to know what is going on and play an active role in their community. He said he fears people don’t fully understand issues like air pollution and don’t know what they can do to help.
He also said it is important for community members to know their efforts to minimize pollution do make a difference. People must also realize the results of the air quality survey will only be one of many factors that will be used to influence policy, he said.
“Your efforts do help, and your opinion does matter,” Marquit said. “The results will be used to influence policy in the future and will be a part of decision making.”
-ariek@cc.usu.edu