Community-based research, service confab hosted by TTC March 19-22

Date: 2/23/2017

Author: Jamie Hicks Masterson, Associate Director Texas Target Communitites

University educators from across the nation will reveal how their research and service projects are enhancing communities and providing transformative learning experiences for students during the 2017 Sustainable City Year Conference, slated March 19–22 at Texas A&M University.

Sponsored by our Engagement Team -Texas Target Communities, the research and outreach arm of the Texas A&M College of Architecture, this year’s conference marks sixth annual gathering of the Educational Partnerships for Innovation in Communities Network. The group is composed of educators and representatives from public and private organizations whose collaborative projects assist communities with issues they often lack the resources to address.

Online registration for the conference, to be held at the Texas A&M Memorial Student Center and the Cavalry Court Hotel, is available via the conference website.

“Conference goers will discuss the strengths and challenges of their projects and brainstorm strategies for making these enterprises stronger, students’ experiences better, and communities more resilient and sustainable,” said Jaimie Masterson, TTC coordinator.

Masterson and fellow researchers will discuss projects involving work conducted by the Institute for Sustainable Communities with students at Furr High School, which serves an impoverished, industrial area of Houston. Faculty and graduate students are teaching Furr students how to map and test the toxicity of storm floodwaters, assess the quality of the community’s drainage infrastructure and gather data to inform infrastructure development, community design options and municipal planning.