International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

This article describes a collaboration among a group of university faculty, undergraduate students, local governments, local residents, and U.S. Army staff to address long-standing concerns about the environmental health effects of an Army ammunition plant. The authors describe community-responsive scientific pilot studies that examined potential environmental contamination and a related undergraduate research course that documented residents&rsquo
concerns, contextualized those concerns, and developed recommendations. We make a case for the value of resource-intensive university&ndash
community partnerships that promote the production of knowledge through collaborations across disciplinary paradigms (natural/physical sciences, social sciences, health sciences, and humanities) in response to questions raised by local residents. Our experience also suggests that enacting this type of research through a university class may help promote researchers&rsquo
adoption of &ldquo
epistemological pluralism&rdquo
and thereby facilitate the movement of a study from being &ldquo
multidisciplinary&rdquo
to &ldquo
transdisciplinary&rdquo