Community partnership to monitor harmful algal blooms
Official title: Community Engagement Core
Funded at North Carolina State University Raleigh · NIH-11371085 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A program to help coastal residents, anglers, and boaters collect and share local data on harmful algal blooms so their health and environment are better protected.
Quick facts
| Grant type | P01 program project |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | North Carolina State University Raleigh NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Raleigh, United States) |
| Project start | February 21, 2024 |
| Project end | January 31, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $86,753 |
| NIH project number | 5P01ES035542-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11371085 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal participants are coastal North Carolina residents, anglers, boaters, shoreline businesses, and community groups concerned about harmful algal blooms.
✕Less likely to help
People living far inland or not exposed to affected waterways are unlikely to receive direct benefits from this work.
What this research studies
You'll be invited to join workshops and training where community members learn how to collect and share data about algal blooms. The project builds a data governance charter and easy-to-use curricula so local volunteers can turn citizen-science efforts into a coordinated monitoring network. Organizers will recruit anglers, boaters, and other shoreline users to fill key data gaps identified by community priorities. The goal is to make environmental harms visible through shared data and to make research more useful for local environmental health decisions.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, communities could detect blooms earlier, get better local exposure information, and make more informed decisions to reduce harm.
How similar studies have gone: Citizen-science monitoring has successfully identified local blooms and environmental hazards before, but formally linking projects with a 'data democracy' governance approach is relatively novel.
Where this research is happening
-
North Carolina State University Raleigh
Raleigh, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Cutts, Bethany Brooke — North Carolina State University Raleigh
- Study coordinator: Cutts, Bethany Brooke
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.