Partnerships for Environmental Public Health (PEPH)
January 8, 2025 • 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. ET
This webinar will highlight innovative partnerships between academic researchers and community organizations that have used air monitoring data to address environmental justice and air pollution disparities.
The first presentation, led by the University of Southern California (USC) Environmental Justice Research Lab, showcases a youth-led project in Los Angeles that integrates real-time air monitoring, scientific inquiry, and Indigenous ecological wisdom to empower communities disproportionately impacted by industrial and transportation-related air pollution.
The second presentation features presenters from the South Baltimore Community Land Trust (SBCLT), Community of Curtis Bay Association (CCBA), and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The presenters established a collaborative working group to investigate community concerns from residents of Curtis Bay, South Baltimore, Maryland. Community concerns included numerous environmental health issues involving exposure to coal dust. This collaborative group co-designed and launched a hyperlocal air monitoring network and implemented settled dust sampling for electron microscopy analysis in Curtis Bay. They used these data from the monitoring network to produce peer-reviewed presentations and publications, support resident testimony at Baltimore City Council hearings, inform permit processes for the coal terminal, and engage local youth in driving powerful community science.
Together, these presentations emphasize the transformative potential of community-driven science and action to improve environmental health outcomes. The full presentation abstracts are below.
Presentation One Abstract:
Southern California faces some of the worst air pollution in the U.S. However, air pollution from industry, freeways and freight movement falls disproportionately on communities of color across Los Angeles. The USC Environmental Justice Research Lab partnered with community-based environmental justice (EJ) organizations in Los Angeles to advance environmental health literacy using real-time personal air monitors for particulate matter (PM).
Overall, the goals were to:
- Build the capacity of EJ youth organizers to make visible their stories, struggles, and victories living as a youth of color in communities that experience a variety of toxic exposures.
- Increase ability to integrate air pollution data into neighborhood analysis.
- Connect youth to scientific resources to design their own questions to understand environmental exposures and disparities.
Presenters will share one youth-led project by a high school senior at Anawakalmekak International University Preparatory of North America situated in East Los Angeles (Otsungna), California. The project aimed to empower the local community by combining scientific knowledge with traditional ecological wisdom through collection of hyperlocal air quality data. The project worked toward:
- Developing models to bridge the gap between scientific and traditional knowledge.
- Co-creating sustainable and effective solutions that center the Indigenous perspective.
- Fostering community led dialogue on improving the well-being of local communities and addressing air pollution.
Presentation Two Abstract:
Residents in Curtis Bay, South Baltimore live at the fenceline of an open-air coal terminal and around 70 other industrial facilities and have raised concerns about numerous environmental health issues, including exposure to coal dust in their neighborhood. For decades, residents have reported black dust on outdoor and indoor surfaces of their homes and property. On December 30, 2021, a major explosion at the coal terminal blasted coal dust several blocks into the Curtis Bay community, shattered windows of nearby homes, and caused panic throughout the South Baltimore area. This emergency event also energized action and coordination efforts to investigate the community health and quality of life impacts of living at the fenceline of the open-air coal terminal.
The presenters from the South Baltimore Community Land Trust (SBCLT), Community of Curtis Bay Association (CCBA), and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health established a collaborative working group to investigate these community concerns. This collaborative group co-designed and launched a hyperlocal air monitoring network and implemented settled dust sampling for electron microscopy analysis in Curtis Bay. They used these data from the monitoring network to produce peer-reviewed presentations and publications, support resident testimony at Baltimore City Council hearings, inform permit processes for the coal terminal, and engage local youth in driving powerful community science.
Registration
Experts
Presentation One: Youth Democratizing and Decolonizing Science: Addressing Neighborhood Air Quality in Urban Los Angeles
Kimberly Marye Chairez is a former student of Anawakalmekak International University Preparatory of North America who conducted air quality monitoring as part of her internship at the USC Environmental Justice Research Lab. During her internship, she documented neighborhood PM levels to deepen her understanding of the air quality in the area. She formed critical scientific thought to identify local sources of pollution and assess the impacts within her community of Boyle Heights. She integrated the unique perspectives of her neighbors on local environmental issues and potential solutions that combine scientific knowledge with traditional ecological wisdom. In addition to her internship, she held various positions including Secretary & Treasurer in Student Council, Juror in Teen Court, Xilonen, and Leader and Drummer in Danza Azteca.
Now, as a student at UCLA, Kimberly is pursuing a double major in Business Economics and Native American Studies. She remains committed to applying the teachings of her upbringing by advocating for her community through her academic work and involvement in campus initiatives. Kimberly continues to build on her passion for environmental justice and cultural preservation, blending her studies with real-world efforts to uplift and improve her community. She aspires to create lasting positive change by merging economic knowledge with Indigenous values and practices.
Venezia Ramirez is a research coordinator at the USC, Environmental Justice Research Lab. She engages with her neighboring communities to advance research capacity and education through community driven research related to lead contamination, neighborhood oil drilling, air pollution, and women’s health. She continues her commitment to building health equity through her role in the Community Prevention & Population Health Task Force in the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health where she translates research findings into recommendations to the Board of Supervisors. She is currently pursuing the M.S. in Sustainable Engineering at USC where she is researching engineering solutions to achieve environmental justice.
Jill Johnston, Ph.D., is an associate professor and Director of the Environmental Justice Research Lab in the Division of Environmental Health at USC. Her research focuses on addressing unequal exposures to harmful contaminants that affect the health of working poor and communities of color. She engages in collaborations with grassroots organizations to conduct community-engaged action-oriented research to address air pollution, upstream oil and gas extraction and incompatible land use. Previously she worked as a community organizer on issues of environmental and economic justice in South Texas. Johnston received her Ph.D. in environmental sciences and engineering from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she studied hazardous waste sites and industrial animal production.
Presentation Two: Great Data is Only the Beginning: Translating Community-Driven Research to Meaningful Environmental Health Change
Matthew A. Aubourg, M.S.P.H., is a research associate in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He works alongside community-based organizations in South Baltimore, the Delmarva Region, and North Carolina to co-create community-driven research addressing environmental health and justice issues, translating research to action. He serves in the Community Science and Innovation for Environmental Justice (CSI EJ) Initiative and the NIEHS P30 Center for Community Health: Addressing Regional Maryland Environmental Determinants of Disease (CHARMED) Community Engagement Core.
Christopher Heaney, PH.D., M.S., is an associate professor of environmental health and engineering, epidemiology, and international health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the founding director of the Johns Hopkins Environmental Health Microbiology and Immunology Laboratory. His research integrates the disciplines of environmental microbiology, molecular biology, immunology, atmospheric chemistry, exposure assessment, epidemiology, and community-based participatory research to address community-identified concerns with disproportionate and adverse impacts of land use, waste management, and food animal production practices on community health and well-being. He has fostered collaborative, community-driven research partnerships with diverse community organizations across North America, including the Rural Empowerment Association for Community Help, the North Carolina Environmental Justice Network, the Sussex Health & Environmental Network, the Mid-Atlantic Justice Coalition, the South Baltimore Community Land Trust, the West End Revitalization Association, and the Rogers-Eubanks Neighborhood Association.
Lauren Deanes, M.S., is a 5th-year Ph.D. candidate in Environmental Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, focusing on the exposure and health impacts of industrial air pollution in South Baltimore, Maryland. She is a dedicated researcher passionate about using GIS to explore the intersections of the environment, climate, human health, and social justice.
Gregory Sawtell and Carlos Sanchez-Gonzalez – South Baltimore Community Land Trust (SBCLT); Community of Curtis Bay Association
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