Sacoby Wilson
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Event Description
Title: Unjust Chemicals, Unjust Science: How the Environmental Justice Movement and Community Science Can Save the Day!
Environmental justice research has shown that communities of color, low-wealth populations, tribal groups and other populations that have been marginalized in the United States have been differentially burdened by environmental hazards and locally unwanted land uses (LULUs), have differential exposure to pollutants, and experience differential health outcomes. In this presentation, we will explore how industries such as the petrochemical industry differentially impact these communities. We will explore data from Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) to discuss the role of environmental racism in driving differential exposure to chemical pollution. We will discuss environmental and reproductive justice in the context of personal care products. Additionally, we will explore the role of science, particularly regulatory science in not protecting overburdened communities and populations from harmful chemicals including the pitfalls of risk assessment, the weaknesses of TSCA, and the need for cumulative impact assessment in regulatory science, rulemaking, and permitting.
About the Speaker: Sacoby Wilson, Center for Community Engagement, Environmental Justice, and Health at the University of Maryland-College Park
Dr. Sacoby Wilson is an Associate Professor with the Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Maryland-College Park. Dr. Wilson has over 20 years of experience as environmental health scientist in the areas of exposure science, environmental justice, environmental health disparities, community-based participatory research, water quality analysis, air pollution studies, built environment, industrial animal production, climate change, community resiliency, and sustainability. He works primarily in partnership with community-based organizations to study and address environmental justice and health issues and translate research to action.
Dr. Wilson is Director of the Community Engagement, Environmental Justice and Health (CEEJH) initiative. CEEJH is focused on providing technical assistance to communities fighting against environmental injustice and environmental health disparities in the DMV region and across the nation. Through CEEJH, Dr. Wilson is engaging communities in the Washington, DC region on environmental health issues including exposure and health risks for individuals who fish and recreate on the Anacostia River; use of best management practices to reduce stormwater inputs in the Chesapeake Bay; air pollution and health impacts due to industrial and commuter traffic in Bladensburg, MD; built environment, environmental injustice, and vectors in West Baltimore; cumulative impacts of environmental hazards on air quality in Brandywine, MD; goods movement, industrial pollution, and environmental injustice in South Baltimore, MD; environmental justice and health issues in Buzzard Point area of Washington, DC; industrial chicken farming on Maryland’s Eastern Shore; health impact of assessment in the Sheriff Road community; and other topics. In addition, he is working with schools in the region on pipeline development efforts in the STEM+H disciplines (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Health).
Learn more about Dr. Wilson at CEEJH.
Watch the recording of the presentation.