Symposium
Cesar Estien
PhD Student
UC Berkeley, United States
Brandon Quintana
MS Student
CSU Fullerton
Lynwood, California, United States
Leeza-Marie Rodriguez, PhD Candidate
University of California, Santa Barbara, United States
Crystal Ramirez
California State University, Los Angeles, California, United States
While US government policy defines environmental justice in relation to fair laws, regulations, and disproportionate exposure to pollutants, this symposium brings together speakers who examine the environment as more than; as an entity that is for all. Speakers view the environment not as a people-free biophysical system but as the ambient and immediate surroundings of everyday life, people, wildlife, and relationships linking people with their immediate environment. Speakers will present across disciplinary fields such as urban ecosystems and education programs while focusing on empowering communities most affected by environmental injustices with the underlying principle that the environment is, and should be, for all people. Overall, the speakers highlight that engaging with public health, environmental injustices, and education means addressing the inequalities in our society and emphasize the need for de-siloing knowledge production in ecology. The primary goals of this symposium are (1) to learn from Black scholars who have lived experience with systems of oppression that create environmental injustices and (2) to highlight work that engages environmental justice with communities rather than on environmental justice communities. With academia being overwhelmingly white, much of the environmental justice scholarship produced in these spaces come from those who haven’t experienced systemic oppression. This symposium is an effort to combat that by engaging with Black scholars that attempt to understand a world with growing levels of inequality and injustice. Overall, this symposium encapsulates the theme of the conference “For All Ecologists” by providing pathways for making ecology truly inclusive through various environmental justice frameworks.
Presenting Author: Cesar Estien – UC Berkeley
Co-author: Christine E. Wilkinson – University of California, Berkeley
Co-author: Rachel Mrello-Frosch – University of California, Berkeley
Co-author: Christopher J. Schell, PhD – University of California, Berkeley
Presenting Author: Alycia Ellington – University of California, Santa Cruz
Presenting Author: Gabriel Gadsden – Yale University
Presenting Author: Christopher J. Schell, PhD – University of California, Berkeley
Co-author: Tal Caspi – University of California, Davis
Co-author: Cesar Estien – UC Berkeley
Co-author: Benjamin N. Sacks – University of California, Davis