The EPA PREPARED program’s scope is to promote readiness and enhance proficiency to advance reporting and data for EPA and State Revolving Funds (SRF) for clean and drinking water programs applicants and grantees. The program is oriented towards building community capacity on evidence-based approaches to advance data dissemination, reporting, and integration of lived community experiences.
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Program services include developing capacity-building resources to increase community preparedness to apply for, manage, collect and analyze data, and report results to the funding agency. Technical assistance, program outreach, and community engagement support is offered through EPA’s PREPARED program to communities in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. A robust program evaluation will serve as model for program beneficiaries to conduct performance measurement and evaluation plans for continuous improvement of their environmental programs.
Our program provides an innovative approach to integrate qualitative data and lived experiences of communities through participatory storytelling together with partner organization, The Dream Network, based in Lawrence, MA.
Program outcomes are anticipated to be the increased capacity of participants to apply for and manage EPA grants and SRF programs, and improved data collection and reporting for EPA grantees. Longer-term outcomes include sustainable environmental planning and engagement for communities and reduced disproportionate environmental burdens in undeserved and small communities.
TEAM
Nefeli Bompoti, PhD (Principal Investigator) Assistant Professor
Civil & Environmental Engineering
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
Email: nbompoti@umassd.edu
Dr. Nefeli Bompoti is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Dr. Bompoti’s expertise is fate and transport of pollutants and environmental policy including sustainable land reuse and environmental justice. She has previously served as the Project Manager of the Technical Assistance for Brownfields Program EPA Region 1 where she assisted communities with brownfield redevelopment projects across New England. She received a PhD in environmental engineering from the University of Connecticut, a MSc in water resources science and technology and a Diploma in civil engineering from the National Technical University of Athens, Greece.
Stacy Steward (she/her)
Certified Diversity Practitioner
Doctoral Student in Psychology-UMass Lowell
Research Affiliate, Boston University Center for Anti-Racist Research
Email: info@thedreamnetwork.org
Stacy Seward, is a Doctoral candidate in Psychology at the University of Massachusetts Lowell and an adjunct professor in Psychology and the social sciences. Her expertise centers race, justice, inequity, community, and decolonial storytelling. Stacy holds a master’s degree in Rehabilitation Psychology and Counseling and a certificate of advanced graduate study in school counseling from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Stacy is the founder and Executive Director of The Dream Network in Lawrence, Massachusetts which focuses on social, economic, education, and environmental injustice. Stacy is the co-author of an article published in the third edition of The Local Power & Politics Review titled: The State Takeover of Public Schools as State Preemption: Evidence from Lawrence, Massachusetts. Stacy continues to participate in community-based activities and research to promote racial equity for those living in the Merrimack Valley.
Mousami Biswas (she/her)
Graduate Student in Data Science
Market Research and Communication Analyst
UMass Dartmouth
Mousami is a Master’s student in Data Science at UMassD, where she works as a Research Assistant with Dr. Nefeli Bompoti. Her expertise includes developing websites for the EPA Grant and creating comprehensive guides for tools such as CEJST and EJ’s Screen. These guides are designed to help communities with limited technical backgrounds to be easily able to navigate through complex data systems, enabling them to effectively extract, analyze, and apply information for EPA reports.
“My work with prof. Bompoti reinforced my belief that data science is not just about analyzing data but also about ensuring it is accessible, understandable, and actionable for all. Data is powerful when it drives meaningful, informed decisions.”