Barbara L. Allen

Barbara L. Allen is a Professor in the Department of Science, Technology, and Society at Virginia Tech's College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences. Her research examines citizen engagement, regulatory science, and environmental justice in polluted regions across the United States and European Union, with a focus on how cultural and institutional contexts shape responses to environmental crises.

Research interests include:

• Community-Based Participatory Environmental Health (CBPEH) methodologies originating from U.S. environmental justice movements
• Dynamics of knowledge co-production between citizens, NGOs, and regulatory institutions
• Post-disaster community rebuilding strategies and knowledge transfer
• Policy-relevant scientific knowledge creation through non-traditional institutions

Her publications consistently explore science democratization, analyzing how participatory approaches can transform regulatory science and empower marginalized communities facing environmental health threats. Recent media contributions emphasize actionable frameworks for bridging scientific research and policy advocacy.

Allen leads an ANSES-funded CBPEH project developing environmental health studies in European industrial zones, including training workshops to disseminate participatory methodologies. Her post-Katrina New Orleans research examined knowledge translation during disaster recovery across three historic neighborhoods, documenting NGO-citizen collaboration models for sustainable rebuilding.