Category: News

JPB Fellow Na’Taki Osborne Jelks received the Damu Smith Environmental Achievement Award — This award recognizes cross-cutting collaborative work that has enhanced or increased understanding of economic security, ecological conservation, culture or health. Dr. Na’Taki Osborne Jelks is a nationally-recognized leader in engaging urban communities and youth of color in environmental stewardship through hands-on watershed and land restoration initiatives, environmental education, and training. In 2001, Jelks co-founded the Atlanta Earth Tomorrow® Program,…

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In a pocket of neighborhoods in Northwest Atlanta, Black residents live among a cluster of industrial and transportation facilities that researchers fear are silently deteriorating the communities’ health. Scattered amid the tree-lined streets of Collier Heights and nearby residential communities, there are wastewater treatment plants, a train yard, a power plant, a concrete facility, and an asphalt plant. Within the same 3-mile radius, more than 150 jets depart and arrive…

Continue reading “Black neighborhoods burdened by industrial air pollution will finally get answers”

As a young woman, Diana Ceballos spent Saturdays volunteering with impoverished children living in a neighborhood built on top of a garbage dump in her native Medellin, Colombia. “I could see how sick they were, the skin diseases, the coughing, the deplorable conditions,” Ceballos said. “It was evident to me how the environment plays a huge role in health. But back then, no one talked about how the environment could…

Continue reading “Championing better health for vulnerable workers”

When Max Aung, Ph.D., was an undergraduate at the University of California, Santa Cruz, he was studying molecular biology. A pivotal experience in his junior year guided his path. He participated in a summer program at Stanford University focused on providing public health and medical training experiences for underrepresented, first-generation, and immigrant students. “I had the opportunity to learn from leading physicians and public health practitioners. As a first-generation college…

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Over half of the population in Sub-Saharan Africa has no access to electricity. Hospitals in these regions struggle to provide healthcare, food, and vaccines get wasted due to lack of cooling, And businesses struggle to improve productivity. At the same time, a third of United States households experience energy insecurity – many forgo food or medicine to pay utility bills, live in unhealthy conditions, or face utility disconnections altogether. Governments,…

Continue reading “Energy Opportunity Forum: Catalyzing Energy for Development and Social Progress”

The conflict and discord between Booker T. Washington and W.E.B DuBois regarding their premise and approach to racial uplift for Black Americans have been very well documented. While Washington sought equality with accommodation, DuBois functioned through agitation. However, their biophilic accord and unity within the natural environment have been both underrecognized and underappreciated. As an honor to these esteemed racial and social justice giants, this special issue article reveals the…

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Dr. Annie Belcourt, professor in the Public and Community Health Science department and chair of Native American Studies, returns to Confluence to round out our coverage of the M-HOPES grant: Mental Health Opportunities for Professional Empowerment in STEM. JPB Senior Fellow Annie hits home the importance of trauma-informed approaches, reframing thoughts, and cultural context. And she brings with her a great sense of humor. Find the podcast here.

I write to underscore the important work to be done across higher education to increase the diversity of faculty who teach our students and prepare them for the workforce and future academic pursuits. We all stand to benefit from more faculty who reflect the diversity of our student body (”Black and Hispanic faculty underrepresented in Maryland public universities, data system shows,” Oct. 26). One way we’re working to address this at…

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The University of Connecticut welcomed Dr. Jennifer Roberts, an associate professor for the School of Public Health at the University of Maryland. Roberts discussed the relationship between race and nature in her talk, “We Are Each Other’s Harvest: Understanding the Racialization of Nature.” She began the lecture by referencing a poem by Gwendolyn Brooks. The line that Roberts felt most connected to and used was, “We are each other’s harvest:…

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Sitting on a wool blanket inside a tipi on the University of Montana’s campus Oval, Tyson Running Wolf stuffed tobacco into a pipe. A fire in the center crackled, and the smell of burning sweetgrass filled the air. Once it was lit, Running Wolf passed the pipe to Leonard Traveller, a Blackfoot knowledge keeper, who came down from Canada for the ceremony. Before sharing a prayer, Traveller spoke of unity.…

Continue reading “‘Never seen anything like this: Native elders share knowledge at UM’”