Equity and Environmental Justice

Bridging the Gap

All people have a right to the same degree of environmental protection and equal access to the decision-making process that shapes the environment in which they live, work and play. Yet research shows that environmental harms and limited access to needed resources disproportionately burden low-income and minority communities worldwide. 

Using a collaborative research approach, our faculty experts and students strive to document and address the disproportionate environmental health and risk burdens associated with racial marginalization, poverty, gender discrimination, ageism and other dynamics. Beyond capturing disparity, we investigate proposed solutions to environmental problems and the effectiveness of their efforts to improve justice in the course of action. In doing so, we aim to untangle the relationships between inequality, inequity, injustice and other topics such as park programming, access to greenspace, disaster resilience or resource consumption practices.

Meet Our Experts

At the College of Natural Resources, our faculty are at the forefront of education and research in the field of equity and environmental justice.

• Bethany Cutts, Associate Professor
• Corey Johnson, Professor
• Lincoln Larson, Associate Professor
• Yu-Fai Leung, Professor and Graduate Program Director
• Erin Seekamp, Professor
• Kathryn Stevenson, Associate Professor
• Jelena Vukomanovic, Assistant Professor