Information Letter and Consent Form for Research Participants
Swim Drink Fish Study

Principal Investigator
Dr. Michael Schmitt
Professor
Department of Psychology 
Simon Fraser University 
mschmitt@sfu.ca

Student Lead
Elyse Collyer
Graduate Researcher
Department of Psychology 
Simon Fraser University 
elyse_collyer@sfu.ca 

Student Lead
Annika Lutz
Graduate Researcher
Department of Psychology 
Simon Fraser University 
annika_lutz@sfu.ca 

Study Purpose and Procedure
This project is being conducted as part of a MITACS internship in collaboration with Swim Drink Fish, a local environmental charitable organization with the mission to create swimmable, drinkable, fishable water for everyone. Through water monitoring, education, and workshops, the mission of the organisation is to connect people to water. You are being invited to participate in this research to enhance our understanding of how people living near or visiting New Brighton Park, Coal Harbour Seaside Park, and Waterfront Park use and connect to the water at these sites. Should you choose to participate, you will be asked to complete a short survey. This study should take approximately 5 minutes.

Potential Risks of Participating in the Study
This study poses minimal risk to participants, as it should present no additional risks that you would not encounter in normal circumstances. However, you are welcome to withdraw at any point and are free to not answer any questions you are not comfortable answering.

Voluntary Participation and Right to Withdraw 
Participation in this study is voluntary. You have the right to refuse to participate. If you decide to participate, you may also choose to withdraw at any time by exiting the browser or window the survey is on. If you decide to withdraw from participation, your data (any questions you responded to) will be deleted and not be used in the data analysis. Your decision to participate or withdraw is yours only. Deciding to withdraw from the study will have no impact on your relationship with Simon Fraser University, Mitacs, or Swim Drink Fish. Because we are not collecting identifiable information, it will no longer be possible to withdraw your data from the study after you submit your responses. 
 
Incentives
If you choose, after completing the survey, you may enter your email into a drawing for one of ten (10) $25 to $50 cards to various local businesses. Your email will never be linked to your survey data nor any other personal data. Entering the prize drawing is voluntary and optional.

Anonymity and Confidentiality
Your answers will be treated confidentially. We will never link your email (if you choose to enter the drawing) with survey responses and only approved members of the research team (e.g., principal investigator, student lead, lab coordinator, and research assistants) will have access to the data and emails for the prize drawing. Upon completion of the prize drawing all record of emails will be deleted. Quotes from the open-ended survey responses will be anonymized in case they include any potentially identifiable information, and may be used for research purposes or by Swim Drink Fish.

Data Storage & Security: This online survey is hosted by Qualtrics, a survey platform owned by a German company SAP with headquarters located in the USA. Following the end of the study, data will be downloaded and stored on secure servers located in Simon Fraser University (SFU), Canada. This local copy of the data will be stored on SFU servers for up to five years, after which it will be deleted. Any data you provide will be transmitted and stored in countries outside of the U.S., as well as in the U.S. It is important to remember that privacy laws vary in different countries and may not be the same as in the U.S.
 
Dissemination of results
Upon completion of the study, the research team will share anonymized quotes with Swim Drink Fish and prepare a thorough report to communicate the findings to Swim Drink Fish. From there, the research team will help Swim Drink Fish share the results with each of the surveyed neighbourhoods. Results may also be reported and disseminated in publications in scholarly journals and conferences.

Contact Information
If you have any questions or concerns about the study, please contact Dr. Michael Schmitt (mschmitt@sfu.ca), Elyse Collyer (elyse_collyer@sfu.ca), and/or Annika Lutz (annika_lutz@sfu.ca).  
 
If you have any concerns about your rights as a research participant and/or your experiences while participating in this study, please contact the SFU Office of Research Ethics at dore@sfu.ca or 778-782-6593 using the study number: #30002464.

If you do not consent to participate please exit by closing the browser or navigating away from this page.