People of color are more likely to breathe dirty air, drink contaminated water, and live near hazardous waste sites, industrial agriculture operations, and other sources of pollution. The accelerating impacts of climate change are having additional disproportionate effects on minoritized populations. This talk will discuss structural determinants of environmental health disparities and community-engaged research to develop decision-support tools that advance environmental justice.
Learning Objectives: After attending this webinar, attendees will be able to:
- Describe the unequal burden of environmental health hazards experienced by people of color.
- Explain why minoritized populations are at greatest risk of health impacts stemming from pollutant exposures and climate change.
- Cite examples of community informed decision-support tools to advance environmental justice.
This is an event of the Office of Academic Clinical Affairs (OACA), hosted by the Center for Bioethics, and co-sponsored by the following U of MN Units: Center for Antiracism Research for Health Equity, School of Public Health; Center for Global Health and Social Responsibility, Office of Academic Clinical Affairs; Center for Race, Indigeneity, Disability, Gender, & Sexuality Studies, College of Liberal Arts; Center for Science Technology and Environmental Policy, Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs; College of Pharmacy; Institute on the Environment; Medical School; Program in Health Disparities Research, Medical School; School of Dentistry; School of Public Health; School of Nursing; University of Minnesota Climate Adaptation Partnership.
Resources: Environmental Justice Screening Tools
Speaker(s)
Lara Cushing, PhD, MPH, is Assistant Professor of Environmental Health Sciences and Jonathan and Karin Fielding Presidential Chair in Health Equity at the University of California Los Angeles. Her research focuses on the causes and consequences of social inequalities in exposure to environmental hazards. She has assessed the health impacts of environmental and climate-related exposures for pregnant people and infants, and investigated questions of environmental justice in the context of air pollution and hazardous sites, urban greenspace and heat islands, oil and gas production, drinking water quality, and climate change. She is active in community-engaged efforts to develop analytical frameworks and decision-support tools to advance environmental and climate justice policy at the state and national level.