Eight-week cohort class with 40-50 hours of content.
A max of 20 participants

Application Date: December 30, 2020
Space is limited, please apply ASAP

Apply Now: https://forms.gle/LZmxPUBGjgujRFpx8

This entry-level course is designed to provide an understanding of common indoor air quality (IAQ) problems in Alaska Native homes and schools. The course includes an overview of indoor air pollutants and their health effects, and tips for solving IAQ problems. Instruction will include online video recordings, reading materials, webinars, and live discussion groups. The cohort will have weekly live discussion groups, with supplementary learning activities completed on the participant's own time, and weekly live webinars. Participants will be required to complete group discussions, activities, and assignments in order to receive their certificate of completion. There will be approximately 5 to 6 hours of work per week.

The course will be held in partnership with the University of Alaska Fairbanks Extension Services, the Alaska Cold Climate Housing Research Center, and the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC). Each participant will receive kits and instruments that will help with implementation of their indoor air quality program.

Topics include:

• Indoor air concerns in Alaska villages and communities
• Overview of building science
• Mold and its health effects
• Environmental Tobacco Smoke
• Radon
• IAQ and asthma
• IAQ and COVID-19
• Hazardous materials in homes and schools
• Combustion products
• Instruments for assessing IAQ
• Outreach: prevention of IAQ problems
• Collaboration, Partnerships and resources
• Quality Assurance Planning

Prerequisites: There are no prerequisites for this course.

Please note: This course is a prerequisite for ITEP’s Level 2 course, Indoor Air Quality Diagnostic Tools for Tribal Professionals.

If you have questions regarding the pre-requisites or your eligibility for this course, please contact Christal Black, Program Coordinator Sr. at Christal.Black@nau.edu or phone 928-523-8410.

This webinar will introduce the free QREST (Quality Review and Exchange System for Tribes) online data management tool, managed by ITEP. QREST is an open source tool that automatically retrieves data from data loggers (manual import is also a feature), stores it in the cloud for tribal data quality review, and includes an integrated Node Client for data submission to AirNow and AQS. QREST is designed specifically for Tribal Agencies to independently manage their own data, in a way that is consistent with all industry and federal guidance for legally defensible environmental data.

Webinar Topics:
Introduce QREST

• Built for Tribal Agencies
• Open source (no license fees, all code public)
• TAMS Center managed
• Tribal Agencies are their Agency Admins
• Flexible: can manually import or automatically poll data, can use QC features or AQS node only
• Help files, SOPs, videos, and individual assistance

Learn more about your needs

Presenter: Melinda Ronca-Battista, Research Associate, Tribal Air Monitoring and Support Center

Webinar Video:
Video

Presentation:
Quality Review and Exchange System for Tribes (QREST) Introduction) [pdf]

Resources:
Establishing QREST User Accounts [Excel]
Add Site by Importing from AQS [Excel]
Add Monitors by Importing from AQS [Excel]
Setting Level 0 (Automated) Validation Limits [Excel]

If you have questions contact: Christal.Black@nau.edu or Christopher.Lee@nau.edu

This webinar will present potential methods used to estimate emissions for common nonpoint sources located on Tribal Lands. We will discuss in detail what data needs to be collected in order to use these methods, as well as how to enter the data into calculators and spreadsheets. The primary focus of this webinar is on estimating emissions using original data gathering, rather than on summarizing emissions data already calculated at the county level in the National Emissions Inventory (NEI) database.

Webinar Topics:

• Introduction to non-point sources included in an emissions inventory.
• Emissions estimation methods.
• Activity data collection and entry.

Presenter: Angelique Luedeker, Technology Specialist II, Tribal Air Monitoring and Support Center

Bio: Angelique started working for ITEP in 2002, and since her first day, she has been working with emissions inventories. She has 18 years of experience of providing tribes assistance with emission inventories. Before working for ITEP, Angelique was part of the Los Alamos National Lab air quality team. She has a BS in Chemistry from Northern Arizona University.

Webinar Video:
Video

Presentation:
Nonpoint Emissions [pdf]

Resources:
Traffic Data [Excel]
Non Point Sources Recommended Emissions Method [Excel]

If you have questions contact: Christal.Black@nau.edu

This webinar will provide information to tribal professionals on U.S. EPA’s Air Quality System (AQS) database and demonstrate basics of AQS. This database is a computer-based information management system for handling the storage and retrieval of information pertaining to ambient air pollutants and related meteorological data. This introduction will provide information on how to access the database, retrieve data and provide a basic overview of AQS codes and functions need to parameterize air monitoring sites and monitor information for data uploading.

Webinar #1 Topics:

• Introduction to the AQS database
• How to gain access credentials and login instructions
• Overview of basic AQS codes
• Data retrieval from AQS database

Webinar #2 Topics:

• Establishing a site and monitor in AQS
• How to format and load data to AQS
• Correcting data in AQS
• How to load QA data to AQS

Presenter:
Michael King, Tribal Air Monitoring Support Center
Chris Chapman, EPA Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards
Michael Brooks, EPA Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards
Stuart Gray, EPA Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards

Webinar 1 Recording:
Video

Resources:
AQS Basics Webinar 1 Slides [pdf]
AQS Regional Contact List [pdf]
AQS User Guide-2018 [pdf]
Data Coding Manual-2018 [pdf]

If you have questions contact: Christal.Black@nau.edu