On Monday, November 15, 2021, the International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement (IARSLCE) — an international non-profit organization devoted to promoting research and discussion about service-learning and community engagement — hosted a virtual ceremony for their 2021 research recognition awards. During this ceremony, two exemplary UC Davis researchers were awarded for their community-engaged research.

Dr. Katherine Kim, adjunct associate professor of public health sciences and health informatics at the UC Davis School of Medicine and now principal for consumer health informatics and health science at MITRE received the Community Outcomes and Impact Award. According to IARSLCE, this award recognizes excellence in service-learning and community-engaged research that advances community outcomes and impacts, specifically research that has had a significant impact on an organization or program, and/or measurably benefited a community. 

Kim’s research centers on personal or consumer health informatics, and on community-based participatory research. Her work with the Nature Rights Council and the Yurok Tribe, supported in part by a Public Impact Research Initiative grant, has centered around a collaborative approach to understanding Yurok families, with a focus on food sovereignty including gardening, nutrition, and traditional foods.

“Dr. Kim is an expert at addressing health disparities using participatory research design,  community-engaged research, and informatics. Her research exemplifies community-engaged scholarship at UC Davis and she is a campus and national leader in the field of incorporating communities into addressing health disparities,” said Vice Provost Michael Rios.

Dr. Clare Cannon, assistant professor of community and regional development in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, received the Early Career Award. According to IARSLCE, this award acknowledges and celebrates intellectual leadership through an emerging body of work that has begun to demonstrate broad and deep impact on the study and/or practice of service-learning and community engagement, including the communities, cultures, and systems within which it is undertaken.

Cannon’s research uses transdisciplinary approaches with mixed methodologies, also including community-based participatory action research to study the processes and effects of environmental inequality and health disparities on social inequality. She has secured significant funding from the State of California for work on environmental justice and socio-economy of Clear Lake, CA. As a Public Scholarship Faculty Fellow, she recently expanded her work in environmental justice in California, developing a research partnership with Greenaction to understand environmental contaminants in Kettleman City, CA. This work was recently highlighted in the short documentary film, “Air, Water, Blood: The Power of Community-Engaged Research” by filmmaker Paige Bierma. 

“Dr. Cannon’s research collaborations center on community-based participatory action research projects that serve to advance our knowledge of environmental justice threats and solutions; as well as impart new skills to students, engender new areas of research-advocacy for faculty, and produce new partners for community organizations,” according to the IARSLCE award announcement.

In considering the value of these awards and recognitions for UC Davis researchers, Vice Provost Rios noted that “we can’t understate the importance of faculty recognition. Results of a faculty survey and interviews clearly indicate that the lack of recognition of publicly-engaged research and teaching in merit and promotion as one of the main barriers to practicing public scholarship.” 

We congratulate award winners Dr. Kim and Dr. Cannon, and join IARSLCE in recognizing the impact of this important work.

About IARSLCE

The International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement (IARSLCE) is an international non-profit organization devoted to promoting research and discussion about service-learning and community engagement. Their mission is to promote the development and dissemination of research on service-learning and community engagement internationally and across all levels of the education system.

About Public Scholarship and Engagement

Public Scholarship and Engagement (PSE) is building and supporting meaningful relationships between communities and UC Davis scholars that work together to solve today’s problems and tomorrow’s challenges.

We envision a university unbound that seeks to serve the public, equitably and inclusively, resulting in reciprocal and mutual benefit to California’s communities and beyond.