Bridging a Pandemic-Sized Distance: Community- Based and Participatory Research During COVID-19

Though it took time to adjust to the new realities of interacting with partners virtually, many of the authors describe how their deep-rooted concerns for the well-being of their community partners translated into prioritizing the safety, confidentiality, and mental health of participants in virtual spaces. [...]several of the papers offer advice as to factors that must be taken into account when conducting virtual community-based research methods. [...]several research teams emphasized the need for researchers to consider underlying inequities that exist in terms of which potential participants have access to the technology and internet bandwidth necessary to participate in virtual projects, how that can bias whose voices are being included in virtual processes, and what steps researchers can take to facilitate more representative and complete participation. Designed to bring together undergraduate engineering students and community members from a rural community in eastern North Carolina to develop community-driven engineering designs that could address ongoing flooding and water quality issues, COVID-19 restrictions necessitated completing all public meetings, focus groups, and interviews virtually.