AIRE Center Mission & Aims 

What the AIRE Center is all about...

The AIRE Center investigates keys aspects of the environment and human living, and their impact on communities and human health.  Our team of researchers and affiliated experts examine how issues of air and water quality, soil, and ecosystems interact with social and cultural systems in Southern Oregon and the Pacific Northwest.  AIRE aims to prevent damage and deter threats to our environment, communities, and health, and to translate research results into practical strategies in collaboration with stakeholders and community partners. 

Why we must study health and the environment in our region?

Southern Oregon and the Pacific Northwest experience a growing number of environmental challenges, ranging from wildfires, drought, and ecosystem changes, to social, cultural, and technological shifts.  Especially urgent are the air quality problems related to wildfires, pollution, and agricultural practices, along with increasing drought patterns and the effects on local communities and ecosystems.  The Klamath Basin faces prolonged smoke events and increased pressure on water resources, including those from agriculture practices, dam removal, personal water usage, and tribal water rights negotiations. Based on our distinct cultural and geographic location and driven by our University mission and focus on applied research and education, Oregon Tech's AIRE Center is uniquely positioned to study these environmental threats, identify the key health risks, propose research-based solutions, craft public health interventions, and improve conditions in this region.  

What projects led up to the AIRE Center? 

The AIRE Center is the successful expansion of the interdisciplinary Hospital Burdens and Air Quality (HBAQ) Project, initiated in 2019 by faculty and students from across four different academic programs at Oregon Tech—Respiratory Care, Environmental Sciences, Population Health Management, and Geomatics. Together with community partners, the HBAQ team examines air quality and assists hospitals with the impacts of poor air quality due to wildfires. 

Where does the AIRE Center get its funding? 

The initial project was funded by the Oregon Tech Foundation’s Innovation fund, but the expansion into the AIRE Center is thanks to a $1 million federal HRSA (Health Resources and Services Administration) grant from The Labor, Health and Human Services and Education bill passed in early 2022. These funds support research into the health problems related to wildfires, such as rising hospitalization rates, indoor and outdoor air quality composition assessments, prevalence and usage of wood burning stoves and other devices, and agricultural related air quality events, among others.