EPA Press Office:

University of Wyoming students awarded $25K for air quality monitoring during wildfires

LARAMIE, Wyo. (Aug. 3, 2023) – This week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a $25,000 grant for a team of students at the University of Wyoming in Laramie to develop a citizen science air quality reporting system.

As part of EPA’s People, Prosperity and the Planet (P3) Program, the award will provide funding for the proposed project through July 31, 2024. The students will develop a mobile app that outdoor recreators in Albany County, Wyoming, can use to report air particle levels at backcountry trails. Data collected through the project will help inform safe outdoor recreation decisions during wildfires.

“Air particle pollution from wildfires is an increasing threat to human health, the environment and recreation-dependent economies,” said KC Becker, EPA Regional Administrator. “Congratulations to these University of Wyoming students, whose proposal uses imagination and science to develop an innovative solution to wildfire-related challenges.”

This award is part of $523,796 in funding that EPA granted to 21 student teams across the country. The EPA announced the winners as Phase I of the 19^th Annual P3 awards. All Phase I recipients will be eligible to compete for a Phase II grant of up to $100,000 to further implement their designs.

More information about all 2023 P3 Phase I winners is available on the EPA website.

Contact: Marisa Lubeck, lubeck.marisa@epa.gov