Faculty outreach projects enhance scholarly work and better yet, improve everyday life in the world around us. Professors Joe Ryan and Sona Dimidjian and their outreach projects exemplify the ways in which outreach and scholarly work address community needs and result in lasting impacts.
A Wellspring of Ideas
Often at the request of citizen groups, Joe Ryan, professor of civil, environmental, and architectural engineering, has directed several outreach projects focused primarily on water quality in areas unique to Colorado.
One outreach project investigated acid mine drainage and water quality issues in the Left Hand Creek watershed, which helped Boulder County, the EPA, the Forest Service, and community groups prioritize watershed cleanup. Not only did the project address community concerns, the experience provided necessary data for a longitudinal study of the role of the streambed sediments in the removal of metals from the contaminated streams.
Ryan’s projects address a host of water quality investigations such as studying the transport of mercury from forest soils to reservoirs or the effects of natural gas development on water quality. In many cases, these projects have led to additional funding from the National Science Foundation for continued investigation and remediation.
“Outreach work has given me, my students, and my colleagues a chance to gather data and gain experience in new research areas, and this data and experience have led to successful proposals in these new research areas,” Ryan said.
“But even if the outreach projects had not led to the grants, we have the satisfaction of sharing our expertise with Colorado communities with water quality problems and the benefit of providing hands-on experience for undergraduate and graduate students in the environmental science and engineering areas.”
Beating the Blues
Depression is not gender-blind; but in fact, women are twice as likely as men to be depressed. Depression is particularly prevalent during pregnancy and postpartum, yet only 23 percent of diagnosed women receive the mental health treatment they need during pregnancy.
Sona Dimidjian, associate professor of psychology and neuroscience, seeks solutions to better address women’s suffering.
As director of the Center for Research, Evidence-Based Services, and Training (CREST) and co-director with Tina Pittman Wagers of the Women’s Mental Health and Wellness Clinic, Dimidjian’s work offers evidence-based treatments for women, and it provides specialized training for students and mental health clinicians.
With outreach support, Dimidjian’s pioneering projects have included use of mindfulness-based therapies such as meditation to improve well-being in women during pregnancy and reaching out to women in the local community through the Women’s Mental Health and Wellness Clinic.
The Women’s Clinic is launching another new community education initiative, the Bolder Women’s Book Club, which will create a context for coming together with other women in the community to talk about important books and learn from women’s health experts.
Dimidjian also has been able to leverage outreach award support to garner additional funding, including multiple National Institute of Mental Health grants to develop prevention and treatment programs specifically for at-risk and depressed pregnant women and to train clinicians in evidence based treatments.
“Since I came to CU, I have been fortunate to receive outreach grants, which have focused on providing training to clinicians in evidence-based treatments for depression in women during pregnancy and postpartum, evaluating services for teen mothers, and establishing a specialty outreach clinic providing evidence-based psychotherapy for women’s mental health and wellness,” she said.
“These outreach efforts have had a direct and tangible impact on our community as well as the university’s academic mission.”