Environmental Equity and Justice

Recognizing the ways that less-privileged communities, frontline communities and communities-of-color have been disproportionately harmed by environmental pollution and granted limited access to environmental goods and services, our projects direct attention to the need for more equitable and just solutions.

  • CECE at Climate Week NYC 2025

    CECE
    Several CECE faculty and affliates will be attending Climate Week next week in New York City. Below are a few events that they will be participating in. Upstream, Downriver – Uniting for Water Justice Screening The Center for Environmental Filmmaking‘s Professor Maggie Stogner will be screening her documentary “Upstream, Downriver – Uniting for Water Justice” virtually […]

  • [Recap] WCL hosts panel on Climate Change Opinions of the International Court of Justice and [...]

    By: Michael Culbert The conjunction of human rights and climate change was first brought up at Buenos Aires Climate Change Conference in 2004 and laughed at as a realistic framework… well “no one is laughing now.”1 The International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) both took steps this July […]

  • Tracking Activism and Resistance at the No Kings Day of Action

    Arman Azedi, Dana R. Fisher, Magnolia Mead, Natalia Piland
    Over the past 6 months, protesters have flooded the streets across the country to voice their concerns about the Trump Administration and its policies. Multiple large-scale, coordinated days of action organized by groups such as Indivisible and more informal networks like 50501 movement have taken place. The most recent day of action was called No […]

  • CECE Post Doc Shares Insights on Upcoming Hurricane Risks to Latino Communities

    CECE
    Dr. Julie A. González, Environmental Justice Postdoctoral Fellow at CECE, was interviewed by journalist Johani Ponce for a series of Spanish-language news outlets covering the 2025 hurricane season and its impact on Latino communities across the U.S. In these interviews, Dr. González explained how federal funding cuts, lack of language access, rising living costs, and […]

  • Event Recap: Maternal & Child Health in a Dangerous Climate

    CECE
    Moms Clean Air Force, EcoMadres, and The 19th hosted “Maternal & Child Health in a Dangerous Climate,” a forum addressing the link between environmental hazards and maternal health disparities for women of color. Experts highlighted how air pollution, extreme heat, and toxic plastic exposure are not just environmental issues but direct threats to maternal and […]

  • CECE Post Doc Speaks on Health Risks from Pollution and Effects on Vulnerable Communities

    CECE
    Dr. Julie A. González, Environmental Justice Postdoctoral Fellow at American University’s Center for Environment, Community, and Equity (CECE), appeared on Telemundo’s Planeta Tierra in a coast-to-coast news segment to discuss the critical public health impacts of air pollution on vulnerable communities. During the segment, Dr. González explained how recent environmental rollbacks threaten clean air protections, […]

  • What We Lose When America Loses AmeriCorps

    Dana R. Fisher
    Click here to read CECE Director, Dr. Dana R. Fisher‘s recent commentary in Rolling Stone about losing AmeriCorps and the effects it could have on federal workforce development and community response to disasters.

  • CECE Researchers Survey Rallies as Action Grows Around the Country

    Arman Azedi, Dana R. Fisher, Magnolia Mead
    As demonstrations have become more commonplace in Washington, DC, CECE has deployed teams of researchers to many of the larger rallies to document trends in activism and civic engagement. To date, we have collected data at the People’s March in January, the Stand Up for Science Rally in March, and the HandsOff Rally in April. […]

  • Cosequences of Environmental Rollbacks Will Have a Wide Range of Impacts

    Julie A. Gonzalez
    Dr. Julie A. González, Environmental Justice Postdoctoral Fellow at CECE, was interviewed by La Opinión, Los Angeles’ leading Spanish-language news outlet, to discuss the consequences of recent environmental policy rollbacks under the current administration. The conversation highlighted how weakened protections exacerbate environmental injustices in Latino communities, while also threatening national public health infrastructure and economic […]

  • [Recap] CECE Colloquium Series – Activism and Social Movements

    On Monday, March 31st CECE’s Director Dana Fisher was joined by SOC’s Rosalind Donald for the final CECE colloquium of the semester. Fisher and Donald focused the discussion on their work related to activism and social movements. Fisher presented on her newest research, which focuses on protests. She is particularly interested in what factors are driving people to protests […]

  • CECE Director talks activism and social movements on Factually!

    Dr. Dana Fisher, CECE Director, returned to Factually! to talk with Adam Conover about how to resist in the current moment and build the kind of movements that we need to protect our democracy. Click here to watch the full episode. You can listen here or on other podcast platforms. To find out more about […]

  • [Recap] EcoMadres Webinar: Climate Displacement & Wildfires

    Julie A. Gonzalez
    Dr. Julie A. González, CECE Post Doctoral Fellow, was a guest speaker in the EcoMadres Webinar on Climate Displacement & Wildfires, a discussion on how climate disasters, particularly wildfires, impact vulnerable communities. Hosted by EcoMadres, the event brought together researchers, advocates, and community leaders to examine the long-term health, economic, and social effects of wildfires, […]

Environmental Equity and Justice Experts

Abeer Y Al-Eryani

Energy Transition Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Environment, Community, & Equity

Robert Albro

Research Associate Professor, Center for Latin American and Latino Studies

Michael Alonzo

Associate Professor, Environmental Science

Valentina Aquila

Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Environmental Science

David Bartlett

Senior Professorial Lecturer, Department of Management

Kristine Beran

Professorial Lecturer, Department of Environmental Science

Robin Broad

Research Professor, Department of Environment, Development, and Health
Jennifer Brown

Jenn Brown

Program Manager, Institute for Carbon Removal Law and Policy

Lauren Carruth

Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Environment, Development & Health

Ernesto Castañeda

Director, Center for Latin American and Latino Studies

C. Anne Claus

Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology

Ken Conca

Professor, Department of Environment, Development, and Health

Nicole Darnall

Arlene R. and Robert P. Kogod Eminent Scholar Chair in Sustainability

Rosalind Donald

Assistant Professor, Public Communication

Todd Eisenstadt

Research Director, Center for Environmental Policy

Larry Engel

Associate Director Center for Environmental Filmmaking

Dana R. Fisher

Director, Center for Environment, Community, & Equity

Scott Freeman

Senior Lecturer, Department of Environment, Development, and Health

Julie A. Gonzalez

Environmental Justice Postdoctoral Fellow, CECE

Garrett Graddy-Lovelace

Provost Associate Professor, Department of Environment, Development, and Health

Edward Guetti

Professorial Lecturer, Department of Philosophy and Religion

David Hunter

Professor of Law, WCL Program on Environmental and Energy Law

Sarah Iverson

Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology
Kyra Jones

Kyra Jones

Operations Manager

Victoria Kiechel

Senior Professorial Lecturer, Department of Environment, Development, and Health

Chelsea Koch

Assistant Professor, Arctic Ecogeochemistry Lab/Department of Environmental Science Assistant Professor, Arctic Ecogeochemistry Lab/Department of Environmental Science

Maya Livio

Assistant Professor, Climate, Environmental Justice, Media and Communication
Marquise McGraw

Marquise McGraw

Professorial Lecturer, Department of Public Administration and Policy

Magnolia Mead

CECE Fellow & Research Assistant

Gabriella Meltzer

Assistant Professor, Environmental Science and Health Studies

Sara Nawaz

Director of Research, Institute for Responsible Carbon Removal

Simon Nicholson

Co-Director of the Institute for Carbon Removal Law and Policy

Jennifer Oetzel

Research Professor, Department of Management

Marcos A. Orellana

Director, Global Toxics and Human Rights Project

Angela Pashayan

Professorial Lecturer, Department of Environment, Development, and Health

Claudia Persico

Associate Professor, Public Administration and Policy

Natalia Piland

CECE Collaborating Researcher, Interdisciplinary Scientist
Malini Ranganathan

Malini Ranganathan

Associate Professor, Department of Environment, Development, and Health

Jesse Ribot

Professor, Department of Environment, Development, and Health

Ezra Rosser

Professor of Law, WCL Program on Environmental and Energy Law

Thurka Sangaramoorthy

Professor, Department of Anthropology

William John Snape, III

Professor and Director, WCL Program on Environmental and Energy Law

Maggie B. Stogner

Executive Director, Center For Environmental Filmmaking

David J. Vázquez

Associate Professor, Critical Race, Gender, and Culture Studies

Paul Yoo

Assistant Professor, Finance