MyEcoReporter

MyEcoReporter

Noticing pollution?

Let your local government know through a simple text conversation with MyEcoReporter!

Our artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot makes it easy to report the issue on your own time—using only your cell phone.


How It Works


Team

Texas A&M Superfund Research Center Members:

  • Weihsueh Chiu, Professor of Veterinary Physiology & Pharmacology, Texas A&M University (Administration & Research Translation, and Risk & Geospatial Science Cores)
  • Galen Newman, Professor of Landscape Architecture & Urban Planning, Texas A&M University (Community Engagement and Risk & Geospatial Science Cores)
  • Garett Sansom, Assistant Professor of Environmental & Occupational Health, Texas A&M University (Community Engagement Core)

External Collaborator:

  • Xinyue Ye, Professor of Urban Planning and Urban Informatics, Texas A&M University

Engineers:

  • Andriy Rusyn 
  • Haotian Wu
  • Tom Winckelman

About MyEcoReporter

Regardless of the disaster’s scale or press coverage, releases of environmental contaminants into the air, water, or soil in fence-line communities are of great concern because they may lead to exposures well above regulated levels and thus result in adverse health effects. Additionally, many of these communities are exposed to multiple pollutants simultaneously, as well as suffering from a multitude of existing disparities that can increase their vulnerabilities, an issue known collectively as “Environmental Justice.”

In theory, communities can report their concerns to government authorities and compel them to investigate and resolve these issues. Indeed, most, if not all, environmental protection agencies, at both state and local levels, have mechanisms to collect such concerns. Typically, reporting options include a phone helpline, an email address, or a website with a fillable form. While all of these are sensible routes of communication, in practice, many of these involve a considerable bureaucratic burden while also presuming access to computers and a certain level of computer literacy, thereby creating substantial barriers to reporting. 

At the same time, data science, AI, and machine learning are rapidly proliferating in many areas of the biomedical and life sciences, including environmental health sciences. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and other National Institute of Health (NIH) institutes are aiming to promote their use to improve human health and the state of the environment. 

This project seeks to leverage the latest advances in AI to address the barriers and inequalities in reporting environmental concerns by creating a text messaging “chatbot.” We aim to create a mechanism to collect highly unstructured information through a chat messaging session with an OpenAI, natural-language processing model in order to deliver structured data on environmental concerns to government authorities.

This project will advance the Texas A&M Superfund Research Center’s portfolio in data science by creating an AI-based tool “that will aid in mitigating the human health consequences of exposure to hazardous mixtures during environmental, emergency-related contamination events.” 

We specifically aim to create a “low-friction” tool that can be used by the impacted communities to translate their concerns into action by alerting local- and state-level authorities about contamination events in an easy-to-use and timely manner.


Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Is this free?

Yes, MyEcoReporter is free to use, though messaging rates may apply on some cell phone plans.

How do I know this works?

Our project is in an early research stage, but we have a working prototype that’s already running. Text your concern to one of the numbers listed below.

How can I try it out for myself?

Send a message to one of the following numbers, depending on which agency’s form you would like to submit:
– North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) Anonymous Comment Tool
– Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) Complaint Form
– Harris County Pollution Control Services (PCS) Complaint Form: 833.272.9100
– California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) Proposition 65* Contact Us Form

* Proposition 65 requires businesses to determine if they must provide a warning about exposure to listed chemicals.

If you have anything else you want to ask, please get in touch with us at MyEcoReporterTeam@tamu.edu.

© 2023, Texas A&M Superfund Research Center. All rights reserved.