Social Justice, Community Engagement, and Undergraduate STEM Education: Participatory Science as a Teaching Tool.

Social justice is increasingly being seen as relevant to the science curriculum. We examine the intersection of participatory science, social justice, and higher education in the United States to investigate how instructors can teach about social justice and enhance collaborations to work toward enacting social justice. Participatory science approaches, like those that collect data over large geographic areas, can be particularly useful for teaching students about social justice. Conversely, local-scale approaches that integrate students into community efforts can create powerful collaborations to help facilitate social justice. We suggest a variety of large-scale databases, platforms, and portals that could be used as starting points to address a set of learning objectives about social justice. We also describe local-scale participatory science approaches with a social justice focus, developed through academic and community partnerships. Considerations for implementing participatory science with undergraduates are discussed, including cautions about the necessary time investment, cultural competence, and institutional support. These approaches are not always appropriate but can provide compelling learning experiences in the correct circumstances.

Implementing community-engaged ecological research in Proctor Creek, an urban watershed in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

The Southeast Region of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) implemented community-engaged research in Proctor Creek, an urban watershed in Northwest Atlanta, Georgia, to sample for aquatic species of concern in Atlanta, Georgia's Proctor Creek Watershed as a part of the Urban Waters Federal Partnership program. This research shifted the focus of the agency from the endangered and pristine natural spaces to a major city watershed negatively impacted by urbanization and other human influences for more than a century. Team members from USFWS, Proctor Creek Watershed residents, local students, and other stakeholders in the Urban Waters Federal Partnership (UWFP) spent three months conducting stream surveys and participating in community-led events to build relationships and learn community priorities. The team collected data at 11 sites throughout the Proctor Creek Watershed, visually assessed each site, and collected aquatic species using dip nets, seines, and traps. We observed approximately 28 aquatic species, including 13 unique fish species, and eight macroinvertebrate species, including two unique crayfish species. We also observed varying degrees of ecological health throughout the watershed. Native aquatic animal species were found at all stream sites, no matter the condition of the stream. Through creating training resources and disseminating data among team members for future sampling, the team established pathways to keep natural resource stewardship sustainable without direct federal involvement. Through engaging in community-engaged research to achieve the mission of the agency, the USFWS Proctor Creek Watershed survey helped shift the paradigm of how government agencies can connect their mission statements to the ever-changing complex needs of the American public.

Community-engaged learning to broaden the impact of applied ecology: A case study.

Ecological changes are creating disruptions that often disproportionately impact communities of color and economically disadvantaged areas. Scientists who study the consequences experienced by these communities are uniquely suited to bring the public into their work as a way of setting conditions that enable impacted residents to empower themselves to advance environmental and community change. In addition to involving community stakeholders in the process of science, community science can be used to motivate learning and increase engagement of students. Here we highlight a case study of one way a historically Black college involved local communities and students in water quality monitoring efforts to examine the role of the environment in human health. Students in an introductory-level environmental toxicology course collaborated with community members to track pollution and monitor conditions in an urban, impaired stream. Students participated in bi-monthly water quality monitoring alongside community watershed researchers and an annual day-long multisite sampling event with community residents and organizations. Through this engagement, students and community members contributed to the collection of data, learned about the significance of their results, and translated findings into strategies to advance watershed restoration, health, quality of life, and environmental justice goals.

Green Gentrification and Health: A Scoping Review.

Urban greening initiatives are often linked to enhanced human health and wellbeing, but they can also be a driver of gentrification. To date, few studies have focused on how green gentrification shapes health. In this scoping review, we analyzed existing peer-reviewed research on how greening initiatives in gentrifying neighborhoods impact health, well-being, and health pathways (e.g., physical activity, affordable housing). Using a multi-step approach to scoping the literature (including searches in PubMed, JSTOR, and Google Scholar), we identified 15 empirical studies that met our inclusion criteria. We found studies focusing on green space use, physical activity, sense of community, safety, and self-reported health. Overall, longtime, marginalized residents are negatively impacted by green gentrification as they experience a lower sense of community, feel that they do not belong in green space, and, in many studies, use green space less often than newcomers. Overall, the research in this area is limited, and more studies on mental health and cardiovascular health markers could advance this literature. Based on the limited available evidence, we suggest that public health, urban planning, and parks professionals could collaborate to enhance the use of green space for marginalized residents and their feelings of inclusion in gentrifying areas.

Participatory research in Northwest Atlanta's Proctor Creek Watershed: Using photovoice to explore environmental health risks at the water's edge.

In this study we used a participatory research method, photovoice, to explore community perceptions about environmental health risks, community assets, and strengths in and around an urban, degraded watershed in Northwest Atlanta, Georgia. This watershed, formed by Proctor Creek, is a focal point for redevelopment and infrastructure investments for years to come. Using a community-based participatory research approach, 10 Proctor Creek residents (watershed researchers), and a university partner, engaged in data collection; participatory data analysis; internal discussions; translation of research findings into watershed restoration, community revitalization, remedial action, and policy solutions; and dissemination of results to fellow watershed residents, stakeholders, and decision makers. We present a conceptual model linking the watershed researchers' understanding of urban policies and practice in the Proctor Creek Watershed to environmental, neighborhood and housing conditions and their influence on health outcomes and quality of life. Engaging community members in defining their own community environmental health challenges and assets yielded the following primary themes: 1) threats to the natural environment, 2) built environment stressors that influence health, 3) blight and divestment of public resources, and 4) hope for the future. Residents' vision for the future of the watershed - a restored creek, revitalized neighborhoods, and restored people - is fueled by a strong connection to history, memory, and sense of place. We demonstrate the value of local knowledge in identifying previously unaddressed environmental health risks in the Proctor Creek Watershed as well as solutions to reduce or eliminate them.

A Scoping Review of Capacity-Building Efforts to Address Environmental Justice Concerns.

Environmental justice (EJ) efforts aimed at capacity building are essential to addressing environmental health disparities; however, limited attention has been given to describing these efforts. This study reports findings from a scoping review of community-academic partnerships and community-led efforts to address environmental inequities related to air, water, and land pollution in the United States. Literature published in peer-reviewed journals from January 1986 through March 2018 were included, and community capacity theory was applied as a framework for understanding the scope of capacity-building and community change strategies to address EJ concerns. Paired teams of independent analysts conducted a search for relevant articles (n = 8452 citations identified), filtered records for content abstraction and possible inclusion (n = 163) and characterized selected studies (n = 58). Most articles implemented activities that were aligned with community capacity dimensions of citizen participation (96.4%, n = 53), community power (78%, n = 45), leadership (78%, n = 45), and networks (81%, n = 47); few articles identified a direct policy change (22%, n = 13), and many articles discussed the policy implications of findings for future work (62%, n = 36). This review synthesizes three decades of efforts to reduce environmental inequities and identifies strategic approaches used for strengthening community capacity.

Mapping the Hidden Hazards: Community-Led Spatial Data Collection of Street-Level Environmental Stressors in a Degraded, Urban Watershed.

We utilized a participatory mapping approach to collect point locations, photographs, and descriptive data about select built environment stressors identified and prioritized by community residents living in the Proctor Creek Watershed, a degraded, urban watershed in Northwest Atlanta, Georgia. Residents (watershed researchers) used an indicator identification framework to select three watershed stressors that influence urban livability: standing water, illegal dumping on land and in surface water, and faulty stormwater infrastructure. Through a community⁻university partnership and using Geographic Information Systems and digital mapping tools, watershed researchers and university students designed a mobile application (app) that enabled them to collect data associated with these stressors to create a spatial narrative, informed by local community knowledge, that offers visual documentation and representation of community conditions that negatively influence the environment, health, and quality of life in urban areas. By elevating the local knowledge and lived experience of community residents and codeveloping a relevant data collection tool, community residents generated fine-grained, street-level, actionable data. This process helped to fill gaps in publicly available datasets about environmental hazards in their watershed and helped residents initiate solution-oriented dialogue with government officials to address problem areas. We demonstrate that community-based knowledge can contribute to and extend scientific inquiry, as well as help communities to advance environmental justice and leverage opportunities for remediation and policy change.