WashU uses newly instated Public Exchange Program to address public health concerns

Lucia Thomas | Staff Illustrator

WashU’s first Public Exchange project — which tests St. Louis’ soil for increased lead levels after the May 16, 2025, tornado — hopes to have its first data sets ready in mid-February 2026.

Public Exchange is a program designed to utilize the University’s academic research to combat issues that affect the St. Louis community and the surrounding area. The program is modeled after the University of Southern California (USC)’s Public Exchange initiative, and WashU announced its involvement in late October 2025. 

WashU hired Chris van Bergen as the executive director of WashU’s Public Exchange within the Brown School of Communications in May 2025 to coordinate cross-department efforts. 

“WashU is obviously such an amazing institution, and I thought this was a really interesting opportunity to connect my passions, really getting out in the community to do something that really makes a huge difference in St. Louis,” van Bergen said. 

The Public Exchange team had only begun brainstorming when the May 16 tornado became an instant priority for its programming. Daniel Giammar, WashU’s director of the Center for the Environment, said the timing of the disaster coincided with project planning. 

“A lot of people were trying to figure out, ‘What can WashU do?’” Giammar said. “In terms of taking that research capacity, there was this clear need, and then Public Exchange was created, and so it was a natural pairing.”

WashU’s Public Exchange’s first project, CLEAN STL, was inspired by USC’s Public Exchange’s response to the Los Angeles wildfires. 

“They did all that heavy lifting and work,” van Bergen said. “We were essentially able to take that playbook, translate it for a St. Louis space context and a different disaster.”

CLEAN STL is currently conducting research in soil testing and air quality and monitoring how the tornado disrupted communal public health. 

Soil testing is important to detect whether the amount of lead in the land around urban areas has risen to dangerous levels. High concentrations can cause increased blood lead levels in children as dirt gets ingested as dust. Coincidentally, Jeff Catalano, director of Environmental Studies, already had a soil testing program underway but had yet to acquire sufficient funding. 

“We hadn’t gotten to a point of suggesting community intervention,” Catalano said. “We’ve written one short report on this, but [we] also didn’t have the capacity to suggest fixes, which generally are really expensive.”

Public Exchange was able to connect to Catalano and other experts through Giammer, who served as the coordinator between the program and WashU’s environmental research departments.

“We view ourselves as a relationship broker,” Giammar said. “We helped to form the team because it’s our job to know all the people doing environmental work at WashU.”

Public Exchange offered the funding and resources necessary for Catalano’s to research the impact of the tornado on the St. Louis community through soil testing. Catalano and his team are now using their expertise to assess if the tornado has increased the soil’s lead levels and determine which areas in St. Louis are at the highest risk.

“If the Public Exchange can enable this [testing] and help bring in these resources, then I think it could actually solve an important community problem,” Catalano said. “If we can figure this out, it might be a model for other cities to try to address things, because this soil issue is all over the place.”

Undergraduate students are currently working on Catalano’s team, but the program is at capacity. Catalano hopes that future projects in Public Exchange and soil testing will be available for student involvement in the future.

“I hope long term, we build in a mechanism for student involvement,” he said. “I actually think this is one of these projects where lots of student involvement is totally possible.”

For Public Exchange, van Bergen is hopeful for the various, tangible solutions WashU can provide for the community.

“I am actively holding the reins on myself,” van Bergen said. “WashU has such an amazing resource of incredible brains here, incredible areas of expertise, and there are lots of opportunities in the community, as far as places where we could bring this model.”