Insights Library
2025 Iowa Legislative Report: Behavioral Health
The Public Science Collaborative (PSC) created the 2025 Iowa Legislative Report to guide individuals and organizations working in the substance use and behavioral health space as they navigate and monitor Iowa’s legislature. This report is the first in an annual policy series that summarizes legislation from the prior session and previews the upcoming session.
Safer Futures: Preventing Underage Drinking in Iowa
The Public Science Collaborative (PSC) partnered with Council Bluffs, Sioux City, and Waterloo to develop interactive dashboards of the alcohol risk environment in each community. The dashboards were developed as part of PSC’s participatory substance use surveillance monitoring program and are designed to serve as a resource to support data-informed decision-making aimed at reducing underage…
Safer Futures: Monitoring Opioid and Stimulant Harms in Rural Places
This quick read highlights community-based opioid monitoring systems the Public Science Collaborative developed as part of their participatory substance use surveillance monitoring program. These systems focus on the reduction of opioid-related harms and were launched in Lee, Jones, Jackson, and Dubuque counties.
Composting Training Manual for Cocoa Farmers
This user manual guides ISU-UP and CSRL staff, as well as cocoa farmers, through the process of composting their cocoa pod husks. Husks are a waste product that generate quickly and can cause environmental and human health concerns, such as black pod rot, or create breeding grounds for mosquitoes. By composting the husks, farmers can…
Reducing Disease Burden by Design: A One Health Approach
Mosquito-borne diseases such as Dengue Fever, Zika, and Malaria remain among Uganda’s most urgent public health challenges, undermining individual well-being, community resilience, and national development. This report demonstrates how regenerative landscape design and low-cost environmental interventions can simultaneously reduce disease risk and strengthen agricultural productivity. Grounded in a One Health framework, this report emphasizes integrated…
Sustainable Agriculture in the Context of High Burden of Disease: A One Health Approach
In July 2025, the Public Science Collaborative research team conducted two weeks of fieldwork in the Busoga region of Eastern Uganda to investigate how cocoa farming practices intersect with environmental and health risks related to mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria. This work builds on a growing body of research that links landscape features and agricultural…
Tailored Recovery: Many Journeys, Multiple Personas
The Public Science Collaborative at Iowa State University conducted journey map workshops throughout the state to document and explore the pathways and experiences of people in recovery from a substance use disorder. The goals of the workshops were to 1) identify unique and emergingpathways of recovery, 2) document real experiences of people navigating recovery services…
Update & Extension of the Recovery-Ready Community Index
As part of the Public Science Collaborative’s substance use recovery work, PSC created a first in the nation, statewide recovery-ready community index (RRCI) comprised of recovery readiness scores for hundreds of Iowa communities. Since 2020, Iowa has witnessed the founding of seven recovery community organizations, including five recovery community centers and two collegiate recovery programs….
Measuring Alcohol Outlet Density in Iowa
As part of Public Science Collaborative’s Alcohol Research Initiative, this overview and explanation of methodology describes PSC’s Iowa Alcohol Density Monitoring Program to help understand the relationship between concentration of alcohol outlets and violence in Iowa.
Designing Safe Neighborhoods in Waterloo
The Public Science Collaborative partnered with the Waterloo Safe Neighborhoods Commission to facilitate a workshop in Waterloo and design neighborhood health and safety strategies. Guiding the discussion was the question: “How can we best use data to support the goals of the Safe Neighborhoods Commision?” PSC conducted an extensive data scan to understand Waterloo assets…
Health & Safety in the Burlington Downtown District
The Public Science Collaborative facilitated a workshop in Burlington to design strategies aimed at improving community health and safety while furthering downtown redevelopment. A diverse group, including representatives of the business community, city government, local non-profits, the health sector, public health, community safety, and ISU Extension gathered to discuss community strengths, opportunities, and actionable solutions…
Designing a Cerro Gordo County Alcohol Surveillance System
As part of the Public Science Collaborative’s Alcohol Research Initiative, PSC partnered with Cerro Gordo County to strategize the design of an alcohol surveillance system. PSC worked with the county to identify community strengths, pressing problems, questions to guide action, and understand health and safety data needs.