The Naval Auxiliary Air Station Monterey was located on the Monterey Regional Airport in Monterey County, California. It was put into commission in 1942 by the Department of Navy for use as an operable air station to support, operate and maintain aircrafts as well as train personnel during World War II. After the war, the site remained in use to train military aviators in the Naval Postgraduate School until 1983. In 1990, it was identified as a Formerly Used Defense Site (FUDS), one of approximately 9,800 nationwide, and was put under the administration of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for remediation.

I was hired as a contractor by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, first as a technical writer and then as a public relations specialist, to improve community relations with the Monterey community surrounding the FUD site. As part of this position, I was responsible for launching a longitudinal campaign to improve community trust and inform the community on remediation activities at the site. Prior to launching the campaign, I conducted survey research of over 30,000 residents with a 30% response rate that resulted in a Public Involvement Plan for the site. Based on research findings, the campaign included creating a quarterly newsletter for residents, holding regularly-scheduled community-update meetings with the project manager and technical lead, creating large-scale data visualizations for community meetings, and creating a community-targeted website that housed additional documents for community members, to include backgrounders, fact sheets, and reports.

Click the images to view samples of the Public Involvement Plan and community newsletters.

As a result of this work, I received recognition from the U.S. Army Corps project manager as well as letters of accolade from community members and the former manager of the Monterey Regional Airport.

Additionally, near the beginning of my involvement with this project, I provided assistance to the Department of Justice (DOJ) to settle a legal claim, for which I received a letter of recognition.