Environmental & Social Justice

“Climate change will increase the global burden of infectious diseases such as malaria, Zika and Lyme disease,” says 2017 Fellow Dev Vashishtha. “We are also seeing changes in pollen patterns and increases in asthma diagnoses. We know that the poor and people of color will be the hardest hit. My interest in climate change is closely tied to my interest in public health and disease prevention.”

The School of Architecture continues to build its Race and Gender in the Built Environment Initiative with new faculty appointments. Edna Ledesma will join the school as a fellow for the 2017-18 academic year, and Miriam Solis will begin her appointment as an assistant professor in Fall 2018 after completing a Switzer Environmental Fellowship at the University of California, Berkeley.

In this study, Switzer Fellows Evan Hansen and Lara Cushing explored whether gas production has become more prevalent near where people live, work, and play, increasing the potential for human exposure to contaminants associated with drilling and natural gas extraction.

For decades, California Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia has been trying to clean up the air in polluted neighborhoods — first as an activist, then as a legislator. Recently, she celebrated her most significant victory: Governor Jerry Brown needed her help to extend California’s cap-and-trade program. In return for her support, she got the legislature to pay attention to not just greenhouse gases, but all the accompanying nasty that pours out of smokestacks. The result: California’s most significant air-pollution law in years.

Abstract

Dr. Nathan McClintock is an Associate Professor of Urban Studies and Planning at Portland State University. He is a geographer whose primary focus is on urban agriculture policy and practice, and how they articulate with political economy, race, class, and gender.

Shrayas Jatkar currently works for the Coalition for Clean Air in Sacramento where he advocates for various statewide policies that support environmental and climate justice. He was one of the main advocates for Assembly Bill 1550 (AB 1550), which was signed into law in 2016.

Dr. Martha Matsuoka is an Associate Professor in the Urban and Environmental Policy Department at Occidental College in Los Angeles, California, where she is also the Executive Director of the Urban & Environmental Policy Institute.

Morgan Grove is a social scientist and Team Leader for the USDA Forest Service's Baltimore Field Station. His work focuses on the long-term dynamics of environmental justice in Baltimore, measuring park access and enviornmental justice in the city. His team looks at amenities like parks and tree cover, and disamenities such as polluting industries and flood zones.