STRENGTHENING LITTLE BIG HORN COLLEGE RESEARCH CAPACITY THROUGH IMPROVING RURAL FAMILIES` ACCESS TO SAFE DRINKING WATER, CROW RESERVATION, MONTANA

Target Audience
The target audience is all the rural Crow Tribal members and their families who live on the Crow Reservation and use home wells for their drinking water source.

Changes / Problems
The major changes are the new collaborations with the USGS, NIH Rocky Mountain Laboratories, two MSU microbiologists, the Plenty Doors Community Development Corporation in Crow Agency, MT and the Guardians of the Living Waters Program, as described above. We needed additional expertise and resources to accomplish our goals, and count ourselves very lucky to be working with tjhese stellar new colleagues. The other major change, of course, was the slow down in our work from 2019-2021 due to the COVID pandemic, which greatly hampered any of us (Tribal members included) being able to do substantial work in the Crow Tribal community, except on a limited one to one or virtual basis. 2022 made it possible to again work collaboratively in groups and in person.

Training & Professional Development
Learning from collaborators Doyle, Eggers and other members of the Crow Environmental Health Steering Committee (CEHSC), as well as several Crow STEM student interns, continue to learn from our environmental health and chemist collaborators with the USGS and MSU, and our microbiologist colleagues at Rocky Mountain Laboratories (NIH), Montana State University Bozeman and USGS Montana Water Science office. • Free community training on home wells and septic systems Through her network, Eggers was able to secure $20K+ of EPA funding for PDCDC to bring in experts from the national Green and Healthy Homes Initiative (GHHI) to provide training on home maintenance and repairs to ensure water access and prevent water damage, with its concomitant health risks. Additionally, Mr. Jesse Campbell, the Private Well Coordinator, Midwest Assistance Program (MAP), MO joined in with GHHI to provide several days of training in Crow in late spring 2022. At least 50 Tribal members participated in these in person trainings and/or follow-up train the trainer virtual sessions. 2023: Four 4-day free community trainings on wells and septic systems are planned with Mr. Campbell, to be provided in person in Crow over the next six months. •Ongoing well water testing, intervention and community education: Doyle continues to do outreach, home well water testing and water education with Crow Tribal members, with technical support from Eggers. An EPA certified lab analyzes for fecal, metals and nitrate contamination, and those results are provided in writing (with a description of any associated health risks) by Eggers and explained in person by Doyle. Families whose wells test unsafe for consumption are provided with a home water cooler which dispenses from refillable 5-gallon jugs. The most effective and appreciated community education takes the form of one on one conversations with Doyle, whether at work or any other time. Doyle is effectively an extension agent with a 24/7 job. •Conferences We - the entire CEHSC - had planned to attend and present at the National Tribal Environmental Health Conference in Lac du Flabeau during the summer of 2022, but the Conference was cancelled due to COVID (low registration). Instead, we will be using are plane ticket credits to attend and present at the National Water Quality Monitoring Conference in Virginia in the spring of 2023. •Co-authoring publications Working together on planning, writing and co-authoring publications has also been an important professional development experience for members of the CEHSC.

Dissemination Streams
As above: Ongoing well water testing, intervention and community education Doyle continues to do outreach, home well water testing and water education with Crow Tribal members, with technical support from Eggers - as described in the section above. •National conference presentation We - the entire CEHSC - had planned to attend and present at the National Tribal Environmental Health Conference in Lac du Flabeau during the summer of 2022, but the Conference was cancelled due to COVID (low registration). Instead, we will be using are plane ticket credits to attend and present at the 2023 National Water Quality Monitoring Conference in Virginia. Other national and regional conference presentations by faculty, staff and students were reported in previous years? We (members of the CEHSC) have also given at least half a dozen seminar presentations at MSU Bozeman, and multiple student interns have presented posters at MSU Student Research Celebrations. •Additional planned actions and products We are currently planning a Community Open House at Little Big Horn College to report out research results from this grant (and other grants), along with USGS, RML, MSU, Guardians and possibly PDCDC colleagues, on March 30, 2023. These presentations will be recorded and also made available to the Crow community through the LBHC Archives. We are also working on developing infographics and other means of sharing results with Crow Tribal members. Peer-reviewed publication on cumulative risk assessment of exposure to contaminants through both public and private drinking water sources on the Crow Reservation, with USGS colleagues. Peer-reviewed publication on EPA Contaminant Candidate List 5 waterborne pathogens, with colleagues from RML, MT USGS and MSU. Environmental Health Textbook Chapter entitled "Water for All." This textbook has a theme of environmental justice (throughout all chapters, not as a separate chapter), and will be published by Springer. •Previous publications and national conference presentations (in addition to the two products listed earlier in this report) Schlinger, C., Conroy-Ben, O., Cooley, C., Cooley, N., Cruz, M., Dotson, D., Doyle, J., Eggers, M.J., Hardison, P., Hatch, M., Hogue, C., Jacobson Hedin, K., Jones, C., Lanphier, K., Marks-Marino, D., Mosley, D., Olsen Jr., F., & Peacock, M. (2021). Water. In Status of Tribes and Climate Change Report [Marks-Marino, D. (ed.)]. Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals, pp. 98-141. Martin, C., Doyle, J., LaFrance, J., Lefthand, M.J., Young, S.L., Three Irons, E., Eggers, M.J. 2020. Change Rippling through Our Waters and Lives. In Hostetler, S., Whitlock, C., Shuman, B., Liefert, D., Drimal, C.W, Bischke, S. 2021. Greater Yellowstone Climate Assessment: Past, present and future climate change in greater Yellowstone watersheds. Bozeman, MT.: Montana State University, Institute on Ecosystems. 260 p. https://doi.org/10.15788/GYCA2021. Martin, C., Doyle, J., LaFrance, J., Lefthand, M.J., Young, S.L., Three Irons, E., Eggers, M.J. 2020. Change Rippling through Our Waters and Culture. Journal of Contemporary Water Research and Education. 169. Martin, C., Simonds, V., Young, S., Doyle, J., Lefthand, M., Eggers, M. 2021. Our relationship to water and experience of water insecurity among Apsáalooke (Crow Indian) people, of Montana. American Geophysical Union conference. Online oral presentation.

Next Reporting Steps
Nothing Reported

Target Audience
The target audience is all the rural Crow Tribal members and their families who live on the Crow Reservation and use home wells for their drinking water source.

Changes / Problems
The major changes are the new collaborations with the USGS, NIH Rocky Mountain Laboratories, two MSU microbiologists,the Plenty Doors Community Development Corporation in Crow Agency, MT and the Guardians of the Living Waters Program, as described above. We needed additional expertise and resources to accomplish our goals, and count ourselves very lucky to be working with tjhese stellar new colleagues. The other major change, of course, was the slow down in our work from 2019-2021 due to the COVID pandemic, which greatly hampered any of us (Tribal members included) being able to do substantial work in the Crow Tribal community, except on a limited one to one or virtual basis. 2022 made it possible to again work collaboratively in groups and in person.

Training & Professional Development
Learning from collaborators Doyle, Eggers and other members of the Crow Environmental Health Steering Committee (CEHSC), as well as several Crow STEM student interns,continue to learn from our environmental health and chemist collaborators with the USGS and MSU, and our microbiologist colleagues at Rocky Mountain Laboratories (NIH), Montana State University Bozeman and USGS Montana Water Science office. Free community training on home wells and septic systems Through her network, Eggers was able to secure $20K+ of EPA funding for PDCDC to bring in experts from the national Green and Healthy Homes Initiative (GHHI) to provide training on home maintenance and repairs to ensure water access and prevent water damage, with its concomitant health risks. Additionally, Mr. Jesse Campbell, the Private Well Coordinator, Midwest Assistance Program (MAP), MO joined in with GHHI to provide several days of training in Crow in late spring 2022. At least 50 Tribal members participated in these in person trainings and/or follow-up train the trainer virtual sessions. 2023: Four 4-day free community trainings on wells and septic systems are planned with Mr. Campbell, to be provided in person in Crow over the next six months. Ongoing well water testing, intervention and community education: Doyle continues to do outreach, home well water testing and water education with Crow Tribal members, with technical support from Eggers. An EPA certified lab analyzes for fecal, metals and nitrate contamination, and those results are provided in writing (with a description of any associated health risks) by Eggers and explained in person by Doyle. Families whose wells test unsafe for consumption are provided with a home water cooler which dispenses from refillable 5-gallon jugs. The most effective and appreciated community education takes the form of one on one conversations with Doyle, whether during follow up home visits after well testing, or wherever people meet him in public. He functions as a 24-7 extension agent in Crow. Conferences We - the entire CEHSC - had planned to attend and present at the National Tribal Environmental Health Conference in Lac du Flabeau during the summer of 2022, but the Conference was cancelled due to COVID (low registration). Instead, we will be using are plane ticket credits to attend and present at the National Water Quality Monitoring Conference in Virginia in the spring of 2023. Co-authoring publications Working together on planning, writing and co-authoring publications has also been an important professional development experience for members of the CEHSC.

Dissemination Streams
As above: Ongoing well water testing, intervention and community education Doyle continues to do outreach, home well water testing and water education with Crow Tribal members, with technical support from Eggers - as described in the section above. National conference presentation We - the entire CEHSC - had planned to attend and present at theNational Tribal Environmental Health Conference in Lac du Flabeau during the summer of 2022, but the Conference was cancelled due to COVID (low registration). Instead, we will be using are plane ticket credits to attend and present at the 2023National Water Quality Monitoring Conference in Virginia. Other national and regional conference presentations by faculty, staff and students were reported in previous years?We (members of the CEHSC) have also givenat least half a dozen seminar presentations at MSU Bozeman, and multiple student interns have presented posters at MSU Student Research Celebrations. Additional planned actions and products We are currently planning a Community Open House at Little Big Horn College to report out research results from this grant (and other grants), along with USGS, RML,MSU, Guardiansand possibly PDCDC colleagues, on March 30, 2023. These presentations will be recorded and also made available to the Crow community through the LBHC Archives. We are also working on developing infographics and other means of sharing results with Crow Tribal members. Peer-reviewed publicationon cumulative risk assessment of exposure to contaminants through both public and private drinking water sources on the Crow Reservation,with USGS colleagues. Peer-reviewed publication on EPA Contaminant Candidate List 5 waterborne pathogens, with colleagues from RML, MT USGS and MSU. Environmental Health Textbook Chapterentitled "Water for All." This textbook has a theme of environmental justice (throughout all chapters, not as a separate chapter), and will be published by Springer. Previous publications and national conference presentations (in addition to the two products listed earlier in this report) Schlinger, C., Conroy-Ben, O., Cooley, C., Cooley, N., Cruz, M., Dotson, D., Doyle, J., Eggers, M.J., Hardison, P., Hatch, M., Hogue, C., Jacobson Hedin, K., Jones, C., Lanphier, K., Marks-Marino, D., Mosley, D., Olsen Jr., F., & Peacock, M. (2021). Water. In Status of Tribes and Climate Change Report [Marks-Marino, D. (ed.)]. Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals, pp. 98-141. Martin, C., Doyle, J., LaFrance, J., Lefthand, M.J., Young, S.L., Three Irons, E., Eggers, M.J. 2020. Change Rippling through Our Waters and Lives. In Hostetler, S., Whitlock, C., Shuman, B., Liefert, D., Drimal, C.W, Bischke, S. 2021. Greater Yellowstone Climate Assessment: Past, present and future climate change in greater Yellowstone watersheds. Bozeman, MT.: Montana State University, Institute on Ecosystems. 260 p. https://doi.org/10.15788/GYCA2021. Martin, C., Doyle, J., LaFrance, J., Lefthand, M.J., Young, S.L., Three Irons, E., Eggers, M.J. 2020. Change Rippling through Our Waters and Culture. Journal of Contemporary Water Research and Education. 169. Martin, C., Simonds, V., Young, S., Doyle, J., Lefthand, M., Eggers, M. 2021. Our relationship to water and experience of water insecurity among Apsáalooke (Crow Indian) people, of Montana. American Geophysical Union conference. Online oral presentation. (Bolded names are CEHSC members.)

Next Reporting Steps
Nothing Reported <br><br>

Target Audience
(1) All Crow Tribal members and descendants living on or near the Crow Reservation who rely on home wells. (2) Crow Tribal community members who are taking a leadership role in water security and environmental health on the Reservation, through the Crow Environmental Health Steering Committee, Plenty Doors Community Developoment Corporation, the Indian Health Service Hospital, Crow Tribal staff or other organization or network. (3) Crow students from 5th grade through graduate school, supporting their STEM educations, especially in environmental science, water, health and environmental health. (4) Montana State University faculty, post-docs, graduate students who mentor or are interested in mentoring Crow students in STEM research, as well as staff involved in supporting our Crow STEM majors at MSU. (5) State, regional and national dissemination and engagement with water, health, climate change and environmental health professionals.

Changes / Problems
The pandemic has been devastating to the Crow Tribal community, and we continue to lose people to COVID-19. According to the NY Times, since January of last year, "at least 1 in 4 people who live in Big Horn County have been infected, and at least 1 in 159 people have died." If one only considers Crow Tribal members living in Big Horn County, at least 1 in 100 people have been lost. The collective grief is pervasive and devastating. For more than a year, this limited our ability to do any home well water testing, and even now, we are cautious and respectful of people's concerns with home visiting. We requested and are very appreciative of USDA NIFA's granting us a no cost extension to August 31, 2022. With the drought this past summer, more families than at any other time we can remember have had their wells dry up - so these families are without running water, on top of the 40+% of Crow home well owners whose water is unsafe for long term consumption. We are prioritizing our 1b Goal by working on interventions to increase water security for rural Crow families. With the award of a NIFA USDA NBTS grant to MSU and LBHC, for which Christine Martin is the LBHC PI, we requested permission to change the PI on this award to Crow Water Quality Project Director, John Doyle, who had been Ms. Martin's supervisor. This request was also granted. Mr. Doyle, a Crow Tribal member, has a lifetime of experience working to improve water infrastructure and access for Crow communities, including 24 years as a County Commissioner and some 20 years as the Director of the Tribal Water and Wastewater Authority, as well as being a founding and ongoing member of the Crow Environmental Health Steering Committee.

Training & Professional Development
Cistern Use Research The completed literature review on cistern interventions and the qualitative analysis of the 20 interviews Myra Lefthand did with cistern owners will help the CEHSC determine whether cisterns are an intervention we should pursue, and lay the groundwork for a future publication. This was professional development for Martin, Eggers and Lefthand to learn more about cistern use and interventions. Guardians of the Living Waters (GLW) and N. fowleri research We continued our collaboration with GLW, an environmental health literacy program for Crow middle, high school and college students.As the CEHSC is concerned about the potential for the waterborne amoebic parasite Naegleria fowleri to live in local summer swimming holes, we partnered with microbiologists at MSU and USGS who research this pathogen. Eggers, Martin and Doyle coordinated summer water sampling with the MSU researchers, with the participation of GLW students of all ages. The river water and sediment samples are currently being analyzed by culturing and PCR at MSU.Initial results are concerning, so duplicate samples are now being run. This was both environmental literacy education for Crow middle school - college students, as well as professional development on N. fowleri ecology and sampling for Martin, Doyle and Eggers. Goal 3 Water Quality Education Eggers worked with LBHC faculty member Jonah Morsette, the LBHC Academic Dean, MSU COA and MSU Water Quality Extension agent Dr. Sigler, to establish a new SC272 Water Resources Management course at LBHC, designed to transfer to MSU as their equivalent course. Mr. Morsette is well qualified to teach this: he is an alum of LBHC who earned a B.S. in hydrogeology at MSU and has substantial experience in water quality research. Dr. Sigler updated the most relevant units from his USDA CSREES Tribal College Water Quality curriculum for Mr. Morsette's use. Eggers' and Sigler's time was covered by this USDA grant; other funding was secured for Morsette to pilot the in-person 3 credit course at LBHC during summer 2021. This was both water quality education for LBHC science students, as well as professional development for Mr. Morsette. He was able to simultaneously audit the online version of the MSU ENSC272 Water Resources Management course. The MSU faculty member shared his syllabus with Mr. Morsette. Two Crow MSU undergraduate students are interning with our water quality research: Tennison Big Day and Cleveland Leider. Both have conducted home well water sampling with John Doyle in Crow, and have been interning at MSU in the Environmental Analytical Lab (EAL) as described below. Professional development for these two students, to the extent they gained experience with John Doyle in community engaged research, beyond the sample collection for the EAL. APPENDIX: 2021-2022 Presentations and publications Doyle, J., Martin, C., Young, S.L., Lefthand, M.J., Three Irons, E., Eggers, M.J. 2021. Ch. 15: Graduate Research Serving Apsáalooke Communities. Pp. 225-234. In Atalay, S., McCleary, A., Eds. The Community-Based PhD: Complexities, Triumphs, Missteps, and Joys of Conducting Community-based & Participatory Action Research as Graduate Students. University of Arizona Press. In press. Martin, C.; Simonds, V.W.; Young, S.L.; Doyle, J.; Lefthand, M.; Eggers, M.J. 2021. Our Relationship to Water and Experience of Water Insecurity among Apsáalooke (Crow Indian) People, Montana. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 18:582 (20 pp). https://doi.org/10.90/ijerph18020582. Martin, C., Simonds, V., Young, S., Doyle, J., Lefthand, M., Eggers, M. 2021. Our relationship to water and experience of water insecurity among Apsáalooke (Crow Indian) people, of Montana. American Geophysical Union conference. Online oral presentation. Working on publications and presentations together is part of our professional development for Crow Tribal CEHSC members, none of whom had published before joining the CEHSC. Primary mentors in this process are Dr. Eggers (non-Native CEHSC member) and Dr. Simonds (who is Crow, but not on the CEHSC).

Dissemination Streams
We disseminate within the Crow Tribal community primarily on a personal basis, through individual "visiting" between Doyle or Martin and well owners and other community members, whether that's in the course of work time and well water sampling, or after hours at the grocery store or basketball game or family gatherings, etc. We also disseminate as participating members in community networks, primarily the Crow Environmental Health Steering Committee, the WASH (water, sanitation & hygiene) Taskforce, Plenty Doors Community Development Corporation, Guardians of the Living Waters and as Little Big Horn College and Montana State University employees. Additionally, we share project results through conference presentations (less so this past year with so many cancelled conferences) and publications. Doyle and Eggers participate in a national Tribal Environmental Health network, Doyle serves on the EPA's National Environmental Justice Advisory Council, and Eggers is a co-editor of a special issue on Environmental Health disparities for the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

Next Reporting Steps
Goal 1 (a). Address a high priority concern of rural Crow Tribal members about their drinking water safety by conducting innovative research. Goal 1(b) Reduce health risks from consuming well water contaminated by fecal waste, by working with well owners to improve their well water safety and if needed, provide safe water. Objective 1: Continue to provide home well water testing, homeowner education and mitigation (home water coolers) upon request, to Crow Tribal members. Objective 2: Continue to collaborate with Plenty Doors CDC on major home repair and mitigation to improve access to safe water (including but not limited to installation of home cisterns). Meet weekly (virtually) with the Crow Tribal Water, Sanitation and Health Committee to coordinate ongoing and plan further steps to improve water/health security on the Reservation (Doyle and Eggers). PDCDC's new funding is sufficient to do major home repair/mitigation with 45 Crow families. As part of this, collaborate with the nationwide Green and Healthy Homes Initiative to bring in professional training on healthy homes assessment and with MSU's Water Quality Extension for training on well and septic system maintenance. Continue to work on reducing or overcoming barriers for low-income Crow families with no in-home access to safe water, to successfully apply for USDA RD 504 funding. Among other challenges, this will require addressing the issue of families being put on the federal do-not-pay list for irrigation bills, unlike all other Tribes. This objective would benefit from discussion and planning with Program Officer Erin Riley. Objective 3: Work with biogeochemists at MSU to analyze and prepare a community report on Crow home well water/groundwater quality (other funding), and share and explain the report results in the Crow community (Doyle and Eggers, this grant). Objective 4: Prepare manuscript/report from the cistern literature review, plus cistern interviews - possibly for publication and at least for Tribal use (Eggers and Martin, with input from all CEHSC members). This could potentially be a broader publication about home well water interventions in Tribal communities. Goal 2. Increase Little Big Horn College (LBHC) and Crow Tribal capacity to conduct applied, community-engaged water quality research. Objective 1: Work with LBHC science faculty member Jonah Morsette and his students in his Water Resource Management summer 2022 course, to engage them in our ongoing water quality research as the lab and field component of their course. This includes ongoing EPSCoR funded research on the biogeochemistry of groundwater in the Little Bighorn River watershed, and ongoing NIH funded research on Naegleria fowleri (a deadly amoeba) which has been found in water sources elsewhere in Montana. This may also include outreach to and collaboration with younger Crow students in the summer 2022 Guardians of the Living Waters camp.(Note: We had hoped to coordinate this during the summer of 2021, but just getting the course established, as well as the research projects up and running, especially given pandemic limitations, proved to be all consuming.) Objective 2: Continue meeting as the Crow Environmental Health Steering Committee, a volunteer group of Crow Tribal members, to oversee and guide our water quality research and mitigation efforts. Objective 3: Continue to mentor Crow undergraduate and graduate students at LBHC and at Montana State University in water quality and environmental health research on the Crow Reservation, in coordination with our research programs. (Doyle's and Eggers' time on this objective will be covered under this award; Martin's time under our new USDA NIFA New Beginnings for Tribal Students (NBTS) award.) Goal 3. Improve LBHC students' competency in applied natural resources research through participation in community engaged water quality research [see above] and a new LBHC water resources course, based on the USDA CSREES' Water Quality Teaching Package for Tribal Colleges. As we had anticipated the current grant would expire on 8/31/21, we successfully applied to continue offering SC272 Water Resources Management at LBHC, under the new USDA NIFA NBTS award - and will do so. The original objective to develop and include place-based, culturally relevant material in the course still stands (now under the new award). Goal 4. Strengthen our existing collaboration with MSU, Montana's 1862 Land Grant Institution, by expanding faculty partnerships in analytical chemistry and participatory program evaluation. Objective 1: Analytical chemistry: Working with MSU collaborating biogeochemists, share results on the biogeochemistry of Crow groundwater with Crow students and other Tribal members. Objective 2: Microbiology: Continue to coordinate collaboration with MSU microbiologists on N. fowleri, including sharing results with Crow students and other Tribal members. Goal 5. Evaluate project effectiveness in meeting research, educational, capacity building and mitigation goals. As above, collaborate with MSU faculty member, evaluator and Crow Tribal member Dr. Vanessa Simonds on project evaluation across the above objectives. <br><br>

Target Audience
Target audiences: All Crow Tribal members who rely on home wells or who have no running water in their homes. This outreach was conducted (1) by the short survey handed out during distribution of donated food and cleaning supplies to Crow families impacted by the pandemic; (2) by word of mouth by John Doyle, Christine Martin, Emery Three Irons and Charlene Johnson; (3) via our project Facebook page. Crow Tribal youth (K-5th graders) and their families attending Crow Elementary School, with a subset of those students and families participating in the virtual summer water quality camp. Two Crow graduate students who collaborate with us on their doctoral research: JoRee LaFrance, studying environmental science with an emphasis on water resources at University of Arizona, and Raelene Schott, a Doctorate of Nursing Practice student at MSU Bozeman who did her doctoral reseach addressing provider professional development on environmental health risks from contaminated home well water on the Crow Reservation.

Changes / Problems
The major changes has been the inability to work together directly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We cannot visit with Crow Tribal members in their homes nor collect home well water samples; we cannot meet in person as the CEHSC. Doyle and other Crow team members have been continuing to stay connected to the Crow Reservation community through volunteering time to participate in the distribution of donated food, water and cleaning supplies to families throughout the Reservation, and by conducting short surveys on families' needs for these supplies. Martin with Simonds and others was able to successflly conduct an at distance summer water quality camp with Crow 5th graders and their families by a combination of delivering kits to families for hands on activities and virtual meetings. Staff and the CEHSC utilize webex to meet regularly. The granting of a one year no-cost extension for this new fiscal year will allow us to complete the original objectives of this award.

Training & Professional Development
Plans to attend and present research results at the biannual national Tribal Environmental Health Summit in early summer 2020, as well as at the Montana Environmental Health Association annual conference in September 2020 were dashed when the conferences were both cancelled due to the pandemic. Professional development has been limited to participation in manuscript development and writing (for Martin, Doyle and other Crow Tribal membes on the Crow Environmental Health Steering Committee), and listening to numerous relevant webinars broadcast during the pandemic.

Dissemination Streams
Martin, Doyle and other Crow Environmental Health Steering Committee members do ongoing dissemination in the course of their daily lives interacting with other Tribal members, through our Facebook page and through the Crow school programs mentioned above. Doyle is a member of EPA's National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC) and hence shares our research results in that national forum. Doyle also presented virtually to many members of the US Congress by invitation to participate in a virtual hearing about current challenges in Indian Country. Doyle, Eggers and Three Irons also contribute to the work of the Crow non-profit Community Development Corporation, Plenty Doors, to work on mitigating water insecurity issues on the Reservation.

Next Reporting Steps
Planning for new fiscal year, 9/1/20 - 8/31/21 Goal 1(b) Reduce health risks from consuming well water contaminated by fecal waste, by working with well owners to improve their well water safety and if needed, provide safe water. Objective 1: Conduct ~ 50 water insecurity and pandemic interviews, as described above (Doyle & others). Correct Webex transcriptions of interviews, arrange for review by interviewees, handle interview compensation, manage all draft and final transcripts (Martin) Conduct quantitative and qualitative analysis of interview transcripts (Doyle, Martin, Eggers, and other Crow Tribal members on the Crow Environmental Health Steering Committee [CEHSC]). Prepare manuscript/report from a literature review plus these interviews and surveys for publication and for Tribal use (Eggers and Martin, with input from all CEHSC members) Objective 2: Meet weekly (virtually) with the Crow Tribal Water, Sanitation and Health Committee to plan and implement further steps to improve water/health security on the Reservation (Doyle, Three Irons and Eggers, in consultation with the CEHSC including Martin). Objective 3: Pilot the installation of two cisterns for rural Crow families with unsafe well water and an expressed interest in switching to cistern use. This will include an evaluation of this pilot intervention, in collaboration with Dr. Simonds. The intent is to use these pilot data to pursue funding for cisterns for additional well owners. Objective 4: Prepare manuscript/report from the cistern literature review, plus cistern interviews for publication and for Tribal use (Eggers and Martin, with input from all CEHSC members) Goal 2. Increase Little Big Horn College (LBHC) and Crow Tribal capacity to conduct applied, community-engaged water quality research. Objective 1: Work with LBHC science faculty member Jonah Morsette and his students in his Water Quality Summer 2021 course, to engage them in our ongoing water quality research as the lab and field component on their course. This includes EPSCoR funded research on groundwater quality in the Wolf Mountain range bordering the Little Bighorn River, and potentially NIH funded research on Naegleria fowleri (a deadly amoeba) which has been found in water sources elsewhere in Montana (Doyle, Eggers). This may also include outreach to and collaboration with younger Crow students in the summer 2021 Guardians of the Living Waters camp (Martin). Objective 2: Continue meeting as the Crow Environmental Health Steering Committee, a volunteer group of Crow Tribal members who oversee and guide our water quality research and mitigation efforts. Objective 3: Continue to mentor Crow undergraduate and graduate students at other institutions (Montana State University, University of Arizona) in water quality and environmental health research on the Crow Reservation, in coordination with our research program. Goal 3. Improve LBHC students' competency in applied natural resources research through participation in community engaged water quality research and a new LBHC water resources course, based on the USDA CSREES' Water Quality Teaching Package for Tribal Colleges. Objective 1: Offer this course during the Summer of 2021 at LBHC, including tuition waivers for students to take this course. Target: 10 students. Work with MSU Bozeman to ensure the course will transfer for credit, including for Research core credit. <br><br>

Target Audience
The 100 participating Crow Tribal families with home wells were our primary focus, to ensure we got their test results back to them both in writing and in person. Martin, Doyle and Eggers met (and still meet) regularly with the Crow Environmental Health Steering Committee, the group of Tribal stakeholders and academic partners who guide this project. Further, both Martin and Doyle live in the community, and are resources for community members practically 24/7 on water quality and safe drinking water issues, whether they are at the grocery store, a high school basketball game or some other community event. 5th, 6th grade and high school students participated in educational outreach programs on water quality, which Martin and Doyle contributed to, with other funding.

Changes / Problems
At the time of this writing (into the 2019-2020 fiscal year), the major problem is that nearly all community-engaged work has become impossible due to COVID-19 restrictions, hence many of our objectives are temporarily on hold. Staff are still working from home and meeting virtually with one another and with the Crow Environmental Health Steering Committee. Hence, we have submitted a request for a one year no cost extension.

Training & Professional Development
The project has provided substantial training and experience for the Principal Investigator, Christine Martin, as this is her first experience serving as a P.I. She is being mentored in this role both by John Doyle at LBHC (an experienced P.I., administrator, community researcher and Tribal Elder) and by Dr. Margaret Eggers at MSU (also an experience P.I. and community-engaged researcher). Martin also gained substantial additional experience in working with families throughout the Crow Reservation, under Doyle's mentorship. Martin additionally stepped up to the role of Project Coordinator for the Guardians of the Living Waters Project (with other funding), where she had the opportunity to pass on what she has been learning about water quality to 5th and 6th graders at the Crow Elementary School on the Reservation. Martin, Doyle and Eggers learned more about testing for biomarkers of human wastewater and about collaborating with an organic chemist. Several students at Montana State University gained significant experience in analytical chemistry by interning with Dr. Balasubramanian in the Mass Spectrometry Laboratory, processing these well water samples. At least two of them presented their research at local and statewide conferences. Martin and Doyle contributed to environmental health literacy education on water quality for Crow elementary and high school students.

Dissemination Streams
Initial results were shared both in writing and in person with every participating family. Families whose wells tested coliform positive were provided with a home water cooler if they didn't already have one, which cost-effectively dispenses safe drinking water from refillable five gallon jugs. (Shock chlorination of wells is not a long-lasting solution for families whose wells have high coliform levels, according to the literature.) Additionally, Martin (with other funding) became the part-time Project Coordinator for Guardians of the Living Waters, an environmental health literacy program with Crow 5th and 6th graders. Hence, she was able to disseminate what she has been learning to elementary school students. A manuscript was prepared and submitted to a peer-reviewed journal and a book chapter was written and submitted on community-engaged research by graduate students. Martin, Eggers, Doyle and other Crow Environmental Health Steering Committee members contributed to each of these publications. Eggers participated in planning the 2020 Tribal Environmental Health Summit to be held in June 2020 (since cancelled due to COVID).

Next Reporting Steps
Goals I, II & IV Dr. Balasubramanian's research to date in the 2019-2020 fiscal year has made important progress on organic biomarkers of fecal contamination. We have identified next steps in our research to determine whether wells contaminated with coliform but not with E. coli bacteria are a health risk to the well owners, and would be happy to discuss this strategy with the Project Officer. This research is currently on hold until social distancing restrictions due to COVID-19 are sufficiently relaxed to allow for resuming work with families throughout the Crow Reservation, including collection of home well water samples. Christine Martin is typing up the notes from the interviews with cistern owners, and is working on qualitative analysis of those interviews. One of the barriers to cistern use is the cost of paying for commercially hauled water to fill the tanks. We have initiated working with MSU's Engineers Without Borders (EWB) faculty advisor and student members to explore design and installation of roof rainwater collection systems that will be connected to home cisterns. During the 2019-2020 school year we will identify two or three cistern interviewees who are interested in pilot testing such rainwater collection systems, and EWB will volunteer to develop plans for constructing collection and water filtration systems for these homes. We have identified a potential supplemental funding source for the supplies and travel costs for this work and intend to apply. Additionally, we are talking with an MSU graduate student in Native American Studies, who worked for years in the plumbing business and has just expressed interest in volunteering with our project. We hope that he might develop or locate a manual on cistern maintenance, and provide workshops on this subject in the Crow community once COVID-19 restrictions are lifted. John Doyle and Mari Eggers are planning a virtual outreach to Crow Tribal members, interviewing people via Webex on their current situation and needs, including how COVID restrictions are impacting their water availability, to determine what we can do to support them. Eggers is working on the technology and the IRB approval process; Doyle will do the outreach and conduct the virtual interviews. We are working on three water-related publications. The first manuscript, led by Christine Martin as first author, has been accepted and will be published in a peer reviewed water-related journal in April 2020. Co-authors include Eggers, Doyle and other members of our Crow Environmental Health Steering Committee (CEHSC) team, as well as a Crow graduate student. The second manuscript is a book chapter on community-engaged research with Tribes, currently in press. The third water-related manuscript is in the process of being written by our team. At a minimum, we will post one page "white papers" explaining our project results to date on our Crow Water Quality Facebook page. Community meetings are unlikely to be possible in the near future due to COVID-19. We are continuing to collaborate with Guardians of the Living Waters on planning a week-long summer camp about the science of and Crow cultural traditions regarding water, but again, implementation remains to be determined by the status of COVID-19 in Montana. Goal III We are planning to offer a 200 level water quality course through Little Big Horn College (LBHC) during the summer of 2020. Crow Tribal member and MSU hydrogeology graduate Jonah Morsette, an experienced math and science faculty member at LBHC, will teach the course. This will entail finding a source of funding (~ $10,000) for LBHC to upgrade its software to allow courses to be taught at distance. We hope that students in this course can intern with our project for their lab and field experience, but that will be dictated by the status of COVID-19 social distancing measures. Goal V We will plan an evaluation process once the COVID-19 related restrictions are lifted and we can once more work directly with community members. With the postponement of several objectives and uncertainties in what we will be able to accomplish in the next few months due to COVID-19, we have formally requested a one year no-cost extension to our grant. <br><br>

Target Audience
Christine Martin and John Doyle at Little Big Horn College recruited 100 Crow families who rely on home well water to participate in this study, and have visited with all these families initially to explain the project, obtain their consent and collect home well water samples for testing. Additionally they are in the process of revisiting with all of these families to explain their well test results and complete a short follow up survey with them. Additionally, Christine has attended and presented at a meeeting of Tribal community health workers who support Tribal members with chronic health conditions, to explain and discuss home well water contamination issues and our well water testing service. Additionally, Martin, Doyle and Eggers meet regularly with the Crow Environmental Health Steering Committee, the group of Tribal stakeholders and academic partners who guide this project. Further, both Martin and Doyle live in the community, and are resources for community members practically 24/7 on water quality and safe drinking water issues, whether they are at the grocery store, a high school basketball game or some other community event.

Changes / Problems
We would have preferred to have student interns during the summer of 2018, which didn't work out, so will be providing students with a research internship experience through a lab component of the water quality course to be taught at LBHC. As noted above, the major challenge has been the loss of our collaborating plumber, who moved out of state. We are re-designing our plumbing education intervention to try out a short course format, which would only require the availability of a plumber for a shorter time period. We have learned that neither cotinine nor urobilin is a good marker of human wastewater in home well water, and so are investigating other organic compounds as potential biomarkers (as listed above). This will require amending our IRB and obtaining additional homeowner consent, but will not require collection of any new water samples.

Training & Professional Development
Martin has gained training and experience in leading a community engaged research project as the PI, has gained substantial additional experience in working with Tribal members on their home well water quality, and also increased her knowledge of water quality through completing the three credit on-line MSU course on this topic. 100 Crow families have participated in community-engaged research and are learning more about their home well water quality and well protection and maintenance practices. Martin, Doyle and Eggers are learning how to collect and handle water samples for organics analysis, and about collaborating with an organic chemist. One undergraduate at MSU has had the opportunity to learn how to analyze water samples for organic compounds, using the Mass Spectrometer (partially funded by our USDA grant, but primarily with other funding). Martin and Eggers are learning more about working with a professional evaluator to write evaluation questions and prepare an evaluation that community members will willingly answer. Crow Steering Committee members are learning about these new well water testing methods and what they can and cannot tell us about home well water quality.

Dissemination Streams
As described above, Martin and Doyle are revisiting families (50 of 100 to date) to discuss their results with them. As soon as MSU provides a final written report, these families will also receive a written report from our project. Additional dissemination has been conducted and is ongoing with the Crow Environmental Health Steering Committee members and with the local Messengers for Health network of community health mentors. (See future plans.)

Next Reporting Steps
Martin and Doyle will continue to follow up with participating families.One new point of discussion is whether they would like to have their well test results analyzed for the presence of other biomarkers of human wastewater, namely, N-acetyl-paraaminophenol (Tylenol), optical brighteners and artificial sweeteners.Other newly developed biomarkers of human wastewater are also being explored. This will likely require amending our consent form, receiving MSU IRB approval and asking participating families whether they would like their well water samples analyzed further (Martin, Eggers and Balasubramanian). Work with the LBHC Academic Dean to determine whether the new water quality course should be offered during spring semester 2019 or summer semester 2019; plan for implementation of the course and accompanying student lab/internship in water quality research; recruit students, teach the course and mentor students in conducting local water quality research on wastewater contamination of home well water.The lab component will include a day trip to tour and participate in demonstrations at MSU's Mass Spectrometry Facility (Martin, Eggers, Balasubramanian, Doyle with LBHC water quality students). Complete the analysis of well water data, write up results, disseminate project results locally and regionally (Martin, Eggers, Balasubramanian and Doyle).Local dissemination will occur at a minimum to participating families, to the community through an open house at Little Big Horn College, on our Facebook page and with the Crow Environmental Health Steering Committee. Compile and analyze evaluation data, and use the data in planning future intervention work to help ensure well owner access to safe drinking water. Determine whether project results warrant writing a publication and/or national dissemination via a conference, and if so, disseminate accordingly. <br><br>