PhD student Aniya Khalili was looking for a research lab that would match her values. 她在2019年发现了这一匹配 Shelly Miller教授 and was introduced to the practice of community-engaged scholarship. Khalili has master’s degrees in mechanical engineering and electrical engineering. She is looking forward to completing her PhD in mechanical engineering, 重点关注室内空气质量和个人暴露, 2023年5月.
你是如何接触到社区参与奖学金的?
I really wanted to do work about the effects of pesticides in agriculture. Dr. 米勒建议我申请一个 科罗拉多大学博尔德外展奖 在社区做我的研究. 所以，我读了博彩app推荐这个奖项的报道，参加了一个 咖啡 & 对话 事件. 我喜欢这个概念, and I enjoyed hearing about the different types of community-based research happening and how we can learn and support one another. 那太好了, 因为当我申请并收到外展资助的时候, 我真的不知道会发生什么, and working with the community is harder than I thought it would be. I actually wish there were related methods courses for engineers.
因为新冠肺炎，我的项目被搁置了, and we decided to change it from focusing on the pesticide exposures of agricultural workers to what dogs are exposed to and how it transfers to their humans. The 外联和参与办公室 was flexible, and we were 事件ually able to move ahead.
到目前为止你学到了什么?
Community-engaged research can go wrong quickly, and it’s so important to communicate well. Transferring knowledge has to be done in ways everyone can understand so that findings can be applied correctly by the public.
Another project I’m working on (not funded through a 科罗拉多大学博尔德外展奖), 社会公正和环境质量-丹佛， 使用团队方法. 博彩平台推荐有机械工程团队, 计算机科学团队, 社区成员, 博彩平台推荐有一个社会科学团队. Research can take years, and communities don’t necessarily see results right away. The social science team makes sure we stay in touch with 社区成员 throughout every stage.
In the future, I would like to have my own company and work with communities. I’m even more eager to pursue this, but now I understand that I must have a strong team to do it. 以社区为基础的工作非常依赖劳动力. 你必须为社区服务, and team members caring about the specific community is very important. Teams need to have various expertise to complement one another. 例如, community connectors are needed to help researchers communicate and build trust with people.
What advice would you give other graduate students who are interested in community-engaged scholarship approaches?
是否认为以社区为中心的研究很重要.
灵活一点，因为会出现很多最后时刻的问题.
Respect the community…we are working for them, they’re not working for us. Love people, love talking to people, show your good intentions and build trust. Communities can be overloaded by researchers, especially in low-income areas. 有时项目资金耗尽，就会停止. Sometimes things are not handled well or the results don’t lead to changes, 社区失去信任. 这就是为什么博彩平台推荐在丹佛项目上采用团队合作的方式. 在整个工作中关心社区是非常重要的.
Involve your family and get their support because it’s demanding work.
面对挑战，是什么让你保持动力?
I think back to the history of how long it can take to make a difference, and this keeps me going. People understand water, but air quality is still less understood. COVID did a lot to advance what the public knows, but it shouldn’t take something so dramatic. I might find something that helps and 事件ually leads to something applicable in people’s day-to-day lives. This goes back to the importance of the transfer of knowledge.
还有什么要补充的吗??
We need more funds for this type of research—even with NSF (National Science Foundation). We need to invest more to do community-engaged research and make it successful. I don’t know the answer, but being short on funds is sad and so stressful. This lets down communities who were involved and burns them out.
I really want to say that I appreciate my advisor and all of my fellow team members. 对了，我还要感谢我的丈夫. 他一直是我的犯罪伙伴! 谢谢你！!
The CU Boulder 外联和参与办公室 facilitates mutually beneficial partnerships between communities and scholars who seek to advance their work in community settings. Faces of Outreach highlights the stories of CU Boulder faculty, 工作人员, students and public partners conducting the work and what they’re accomplishing together. See more Faces of Engaged Scholarship stories and learn about what the 外联和参与办公室 提供了.