Stakeholder Engagement Resources

This project promotes public engagement by sharing winter ozone research and air quality information with community members, stakeholders, and decision-makers. Regular committee and group meetings are held to provide updates on ongoing work and to gather feedback that helps guide research and outreach efforts. Public resources such as basinwx.com, the Ozone Alert Program, and informational fact sheets help make air quality data easier to access and understand. Outreach materials, including videos and educational content shared through social media, help communicate winter ozone science to a broader audience.
Seth Lyman, John Lawson, Michael Davies, and Megan Couture
Funding: Utah Legislature, SSD1

BinghamRC

Project Updates and Resources

Updated October 2026

  • Work with Stakeholder Guidance Committee
    • Committee meetings are held quarterly to provide updates on project progress and ongoing activities. These meetings also create opportunities for stakeholders to offer feedback and recommendations, which are used to help guide and improve research and outreach efforts.

    • All committee meetings for 2026 have been scheduled to support ongoing coordination and stakeholder engagement. In addition, web-based tools are being developed to more effectively share project updates, information, and resources with stakeholders and the broader public.

  •  Real-time Data Website
    • The website https://basinwx.com is currently operational and is being continuously maintained and improved to enhance functionality, usability, and access to air quality and weather information.

  • Ozone Alert Program
    • The Ozone Alert Program was successfully implemented during the Winter 2025–2026 season and has now concluded for the current winter period. Analysis of ozone predictions for the season are underway. 

  • Uinta Basin Ozone Working Group
    • Group meetings are held to keep participants informed about project progress and to facilitate discussion of relevant topics and updates. The next regular meeting is planned for December 2026. 

  • Fact Sheets and Outreach
    • Fact sheets and outreach videos are being developed to communicate wintertime ozone research to a broad audience. Five fact sheets have been completed, with additional materials currently in development. Find them at https://www.usu.edu/binghamresearch/factsheets.  Several outreach videos are also in progress and will be shared through USU Uintah Basin’s Facebook and Instagram platforms to expand public awareness and engagement. 

  • Next Stakeholder Meeting Dates
    • November 11th, 2026
    • February 10, 2027
    • May 12, 2027 
    • August 19, 2027
    • November 10, 2027





More Information

Stakeholders Chart



Work with Stakeholder Guidance Committee

We have started a new approach to receiving stakeholder input to guide our air quality research.  In the past, we have created an annual research plan and sent the plan to a group of stakeholders for review.  These individuals reviewed our annual plan and provided input.  That method yielded valuable information that led us in new research directions.  After conversations with some USU experts in stakeholder engagement, however, we felt like a new approach would better ensure that the work we do is focused on what stakeholders need to address our Basin’s air quality problems.  The idea of the new approach is to garner input across the entire research process, at the planning (including initial idea generation), execution, analysis, and dissemination stages.

In 2025 we established this stakeholder group, including the members in the chart. We met with the committee in April, July, and September, and we have another meeting scheduled for January 2026.  We spent the first three meetings helping the committee understand what we already know about wintertime air quality in the Uinta Basin, what research our team is currently engaged in, and what research interests members of the group have. In 2026, we will engage these stakeholders quarterly and seek input from them on current projects, ideas for new projects, and suggestions on making our research more accessible and useful for stakeholders.  In particular, we have a plan to work together with the committee to plan and begin execution of a research project.

Real-time Data Website

We have created a new real-time data and forecasting website, https://basinwx.com/, to replace our old website, ubair.usu.edu. The new site provides data about air quality and meteorological conditions around the Uinta Basin and, like the previous site, will be used by industry, government, and the public to assess current air quality conditions.  

The primary focus of the site is providing a mobile-friendly, simple but reliable way to access information about Basin air quality, including an archive of outlooks issued by Ozone Alert (the email system is preserved as a redundancy in case of website failure). Other features:

  • Road conditions from Utah Department of Transportation traffic cameras, live at basinwx.com/roads since winter 2025–26. A mobile application is in testing during November 2026. 
  • Aviation weather products (e.g., cross-winds at Vernal)(in testing).

  • Further forecast graphics from the Clyfar model (eventually interactive)

  • Weather conditions from live observations and national forecasting models

  • AI-written summaries of weather and air-quality outlooks in plain or technical language (testing from 15 November 2026) 

Issues or comments can be sent to the project lead, john.lawson@usu.edu, but also filed online at https://github.com/Bingham-Research-Center/ubair-website/issues for continued updates on how the team addresses the request or bug in question.

Carry Out Ozone Alert Program

We will continue to operate our Ozone Alert program (http://binghamresearch.usu.edu/OzoneAlert). It alerts oil and gas operators and others when high ozone is forecast, so they can act to reduce ozone-forming emissions. For winter 2026–27 (1 December to 15 March), the program is guided by forecasts from Clyfar, our quantitative forecast system, with versions 1 and 2 running side by side. However, the important and direct text outlooks go to about 200 email subscribers and simulataneously appear on basinwx.com. The email is the official copy, so forecasts still reach subscribers if the website fails; because the website is still developing, please check critical decisions against the email alert text. 

We are testing AI-written summaries that condense each forecast for quick reading, in plain or more technical language. Rest assured that Ozone Alert emails will still be written by the human forecaster while we check that the summaries are accurate. 

Facilitate Uinta Basin Ozone Working Group

The Uinta Basin Ozone Working Group is a collaborative forum to facilitate the attainment of the ozone standard in the Uinta Basin (https://www.usu.edu/basinozonegroup). The group includes representation from government, industry, researchers, and environmental advocates. We will continue to facilitate the ozone working group in 2026.

Create Fact Sheets

Our stakeholder group asked for fact sheets that give basic, plain-language information about our research results. They are written for oil and gas companies, government agencies and the public, so readers can use our findings without working through technical papers. Five fact sheets are published at https://www.usu.edu/binghamresearch/factsheets, and nine more are in draft. We will keep adding sheets on topics the stakeholder group raises, and share new ones by email and social media.