PROJECT SUMMARY - COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT CORE (CEC) Rural residents experience numerous health disparities and generally have poorer health than their urban counterparts. In our Midwestern region, residents across the rural-urban continuum are exposed to environmental hazards that primarily result from agricultural production, including agrochemicals and pesticides, depleted water quality, bioaerosols, organic dust and allergens, and antibiotic-resistant pathogens from the livestock industry. Given the complex socio-political structures that facilitate large-scale agricultural production, there is a critical need for the EHSRC to engage in robust and participatory community engagement that enhances environmental health knowledge and empowers rural residents to address environmental health concerns. The overarching goal of the CEC is to address rural health disparities and enhance the community engagement of EHSRC research through deep collaboration with rural audiences, building center scientists’ skills in community engagement, creating multi-media environmental health resources that respond to audience needs, and advancing the field of rural environmental health engagement. The Specific Aims of the CEC are to: Aim 1) Enhance engagement with rural audiences to develop collaborative relationships that result in the co- production of environmental health resources and knowledge; Aim 2) strengthen relationships between center members and rural audiences through mentorship and training; Aim 3) improve rural environmental health literacy through effective research translation and multi-modal communication strategies; and Aim 4) advance the field of rural environmental health engagement through rigorous social science assessment of community engagement strategies. To accomplish these Aims, the CEC will build on past successes and engage in new initiatives to address audience-identified environmental health concerns. We have expanded our Stakeholder Advisory Board (SAB) to include organizations that represent our audiences (community members, policymakers, public health professionals, and educators). We are committed to the equal co-production of resources and knowledge and work with the SAB as full partners. We will continue our successful Science Café series, connecting EHSRC researchers with community members and enhancing environmental health knowledge. We have developed a new Community Engagement Fellowship and CEC Pilot Grant supplement to mentor center members in community engagement. Finally, we will employ social science methods to develop rural engagement strategies and models that can be implemented nationally. The EHSRC CEC serves a vital role in the state and the region, engaging Center scientists in multi-directional communication with our audiences. Going forward, the CEC will continue to expand the number of stakeholders aware of and engaged with the Center while continuing to disseminate Center research to audiences across the region.