Constructing Valid Geospatial Tools for Environmental Justice: New Report

Decades of research have shown that the most disadvantaged communities exist at the intersection of high levels of hazard exposure, racial and ethnic marginalization, and poverty. Geospatial environmental justice (EJ) tools, such as the White House Council on Environmental Quality-developed Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST), are designed to integrate different kinds of health, social, environmental, and economic data to identify disadvantaged communities and to aid policy and investment decisions that address the pervasive, persistent, and largely unaddressed problems associated with environmental disparities in the United States.  Constructing Valid Geospatial Tools for Environmental Justice, a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, offers recommendations for developing environmental justice tools that reflect the experiences of the communities they measure.

I am very proud to co-chair this consensus study committee and grateful to work with an excellent study committee and the first-rate National Academies staff on a report that I sincerely hope leads to environmental justice for all in the US.

Ghost Neighborhoods and Bronzeville Universe collaboration

The Center for Urban and Regional Analysis and Artfluential co-hosted a community visioning workshop at the African American and African Studies Community Extension Center on Wednesday, July 24th. The event brought together two initiatives: CURA’s Ghost Neighborhoods project and Artfluential’s Bronzeville Universe branding campaign.

Read more about this exciting new collaboration

 

E. Willard and Ruby S. Miller Endowed Lecture at Penn State

I had the honor of giving the E. Willard and Ruby S. Miller Endowed Lecture in the Department of Geography at Pennsylvania State University on March 15, 2024. My talk was titled “Mapping Columbus’ Ghost Neighborhoods: Using AI and GIS to Create 3D Models of Neighborhoods Damaged by Urban Highways and Urban Renewal in the 20th Century.”

They even baked a cake!