Research

A key mission of the EJP is to encourage student (undergraduate and graduate) and faculty research and campus community on environmental justice and environmental equity issues at UC Davis building on existing campus strengths in environmental and scientific research in the Central Valley. Given our proximity to Sacramento, we also hope to advance state policy analyses that promote environmental justice and community perspectives on particular environmental, environmental health, or urban planning issues.

We also hope to help build campus and community partnerships on environmental justice utilizing existing campus programs and partnerships. A key tenet of the environmental justice movement (see About Environmental Justice) is that the communities historically disenfranchised by race and class "speak for themselves." Thus, research on environmental justice needs to be community-sensitive, and not "top-down." There is an extensive literature on community-based research on environmental health and justice which highlight successful partnerships.

We hope to build relationships with Central Valley communities working on a wide range of issues that have environmental equity and justice components and to work on community-based research projects. These may include projects dealing with water, transportation, and air quality. To this end, EJP Senior Researcher Jonathan London currently represents UC Davis on the Community University Research and Action Alliance for Justice (CURAJ) Advisory Board. CURAJ is a coalition of researchers, legal advocates, and community activists dedicated to applying research to address issues of race and poverty in the Central Valley. Members represent the Center for Race, Poverty and the Environment, California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, Latino Issues Forum, Madera Coalition for Community Justice, Youth In Focus, UC Berkeley Boalt Hall School of Law Center for Social Justice, UC Merced, UC Sacramento Center, and UC Davis.

The Environmental Justice Project is currently planning for new and exciting projects. Under the directorship of Professor Beth Rose Middleton the project hopes to focus on Indigenous communities and environmental justice issues, as well as continue work with communities and organizations previously involved with the EJP.