At the intersection of science and faith: Institute for Water and Health and 12 community leaders unite to protect Brunswick’s waterways

When residents of Brunswick, Georgia, raised concerns about their water, the community found an unexpected group of champions at the intersection of science and faith.

Supported with training and tools from Georgia Southern University’s Institute for Water and Health (IWH), 12 local community leaders — pastors, commissioners and other residents — became citizen scientists, testing and protecting the waterways that sustain their neighborhoods. They then invited their congregations and the broader community to follow their lead.

That innovative, community-led initiative, Safe Water Together for Brunswick, has earned the P3 Social Impact Award, one of the nation’s highest honors for public-private partnerships. The award, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Global Partnerships, Concordia and the University of Virginia Darden School recognizes collaborations that improve lives and communities worldwide. Winners were announced in October in New York City.

“Safe Water Together for Brunswick demonstrates the power of communities participating in solutions,” said IWH Director Asli Aslan, Ph.D. “By training local residents to monitor and protect their waterways, we are building trust in data, supporting watershed management programs, and creating a model that can be adapted in other cities facing water challenges. This award recognizes what can happen when science, education and community leadership come together.”

The project began when Glynn County Commissioner Allen Booker approached Aslan about residents experiencing water quality problems.

“It is common in the region to use the waterways for fishing and crabbing,” Aslan said. “Even though there were signs not to fish, people still would do so, not knowing the consequences.”

Located on Georgia’s coast, Brunswick is home to four Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-designated Superfund sites, which are federally recognized areas contaminated with hazardous substances that require long-term cleanup to protect public health and the environment. With limited access to resources, residents often had more questions than answers.

The COVID-19 pandemic heightened risks.

“People were fishing and crabbing in surface waters marked with warnings,” Aslan said. “For many, it became their main protein source. That’s when we realized that this had to be a community-led solution.”

Georgia Southern spearheaded Safe Water Together for Brunswick in September 2023 in collaboration with Rebuilding Together Glynn County and funding from Georgia Tech’s Partnership for Innovation (PIN) Community Research Grants Program. Over the course of a year, IWH faculty and students in public health and education collaborated closely with community leaders to build a citizen science-based water quality monitoring program.

“This PIN grant opportunity builds the capacity of our community and empowers neighborhoods in our community so that our families can improve their quality of life,” Booker said.

The pastors completed the state’s Adopt-A-Stream program training, earning certification as official volunteers for water quality monitoring. Rebuilding Together Glynn County Community Development Corporation became the center of action, housing a new community-owned water testing lab, built and equipped through the grant.

“We use the principles of Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR), a fundamental public health intervention method in our framework,” Aslan said. “CBPR principles include collaboration, community ownership, mutual learning and empowerment. This project gives downtown Brunswick residents the tools and training to research environmental conditions and broader impacts by building capacity and scientific literacy. Public health research often struggles with mistrust of science and academia. By involving community members as partners from planning through dissemination, CBPR fosters trust, transparency and mutual respect.”

“So it’s more powerful if it’s not an academician like myself telling the community, from outside, not even living in their community, what’s right and what’s wrong. It should come from their trusted members, in this case the pastors, so there’s more buy-in. It was phenomenal to see people of all ages eager to learn in the classroom how to properly collect water samples, analyze them and interpret the data. They were involved from the very beginning — for example, leading sample site selection because they know where people actually fish. We were in this together from start to finish.”

Six students from Georgia Southern and the College of Coastal Georgia participated in the project, two of whom were funded by PIN as summer interns, gaining hands-on experience in public health communication, environmental analysis and community engagement.

“Multidisciplinary students from biology, public health and environmental sciences were engaged with the community researchers from day one,” Aslan said. “They practiced field sample collection and laboratory analysis alongside a community member. They also developed soft skills such as explaining complex analytical procedures in plain language. They built a story map, conducted interviews for assessment and developed videos. This experience positions them well for the next steps in their careers as environmental health scientists.”

Alice McCloud, a master’s student in environmental public health, described the impact of working on this initiative.

“This project was especially meaningful because it took place in my hometown,” she said. “Being able to engage directly with my own community made the work feel personal and impactful. I loved getting to know our volunteers, our citizen scientists, and training them in water-quality testing while learning alongside them. This experience taught me that the success of a project isn’t just about what you do, but who you do it with. I’ve been honored to participate in the PIN program for two years now, and it has motivated me to continue pursuing meaningful, community-centered projects like Safe Water Together.”

Taryn Black, an undergraduate biochemistry student, highlighted the importance of community collaboration:

“This project was an incredible experience that allowed me to develop skills in both public health and laboratory work,” she noted. “Throughout every stage, I witnessed genuine community engagement, which really moved me. Collaborating with local pastors to empower the community to learn and understand more about their water quality was very powerful. Being able to connect with individuals at fishing and kayaking sites, share information about the project, and discuss recent results showed me how impactful and relevant the project was.”

Since its launch, the project has created a lasting impact. Local residents continue to collect and analyze samples, with data shared directly with Georgia’s Department of Natural Resources to strengthen regional monitoring efforts.

“We are still continuing in close collaboration with the community,” Aslan said. “When a fish kill occurs, residents are now equipped to collect samples and run water quality tests in the lab we helped establish. And when additional analyses are needed, we provide advanced testing and high-quality data. It is a partnership for many years to come.”

Behavioral change is also emerging.

“When people see their pastor or commissioner collecting samples or hear results firsthand, they change how they fish and become more mindful of posted warnings,” Aslan said. “That’s science translated into trust, and trust translated into action.”

Interest in the Brunswick model is spreading. Other universities and local governments have reached out to learn how to replicate the project’s community-first approach.

“Access to safe water is a global challenge,” Aslan said. “It unlocks economic development, improves health, and gives people a shot at a quality life. What we are doing in Brunswick shows how science, education, and community trust can come together to protect our waterways and the people who depend on this beautiful resource we are privileged to have in Georgia. At the IWH, our flagship program, Safe Water Together, will continue to support communities through impactful research and educational initiatives.”