Environmental Justice and Advocacy Symposium
Friday, Dec. 5
3-6 p.m.
Clifton Court Hall
2800 Clifton Ave.
Cincinnati, OH
Virtual Option Available via Zoom*
Program
Environmental Justice and Advocacy Symposium
3 p.m. – Welcome
3:10 p.m. – Keynote
4:10 p.m. – Breakout Sessions
5:10-6 p.m. – Reception and Fall Senior Poster Presentations
This year, the Environmental Justice and Advocacy Symposium (EJAS) will be dedicated to exploring air — the invisible element that connects us all. Through keynote sessions, interactive discussions, and storytelling workshops, we’ll examine how air shapes our health, our environment, our policies and our collective imagination.
This symposium brings together scientists, community leaders, students, and storytellers to share ideas, experiences, and actions that can help us better understand and protect the air we all share.
Following the keynote, attendees will participate in breakout sessions, followed by refreshments and a student poster session.
The event is complimentary; however, advance registration is requested by Dec. 1.
*Attendees wishing to join virtually should register to ensure you receive the secure Zoom link and event details via email the day before the event.
Keynote
Environmental pollution, disasters, and deterioration are not natural phenomena; systems of politics and economics are significant drivers of many of the ecological issues we face today. In these highly political ecologies, resolving environmental problems is not only a matter of scientific discovery. Solutions to environmental problems require community organizing, collaboration, and critical understanding of ecology, power, economics, policy, and societies. Using his research into the sociopolitical drivers of air pollution and uneven exposure, Jose will discuss how social theory, knowledge democratization through community science, and public communication can help produce environmental knowledge, organize people, and provide ways to act toward environmental justice collectively.
Breakout Sessions
RISE Communities is a NIEHS grant-sponsored effort to foster community-academic partnerships through research education, training, and team development activities around the use of air sensors in communities concerned with health effects from pollution. The program provides technical training to community-academic partnered teams and also supports a community of practice as teams develop and implement projects around air quality monitoring. This breakout session will feature a panel discussion with RISE Communities faculty leads and community-academic partnered teams in the Greater Cincinnati area discussing project barriers and successes in implementation and engaging the community for policy change.
Air connects every living being—it moves freely across boundaries, linking land, water, and people in one shared breath. In this breakout session, the Aldo Leopold Foundation explores how Aldo Leopold’s Land Ethic continues to evolve in an era defined by climate change and environmental inequity. Participants will engage in dialogue about what it means to live out an ethic of care today and share their perspectives on the skills and values most essential for 21st-century conservationists and environmental advocates.
Are you interested in telling stories about air? Join us for this short workshop on interview techniques and storytelling mediums to create your own narrative and learn about creating stories with others. We will give examples of stories that focus on lived experiences about wind, weather, air pollution, air quality, and other air-related topics to inspire, guide, and spark your creativity, reflection, and action.
In this session, participants will receive a high-level explanation of the Clean Air Act and the roles that local air agencies like the Regional Air Pollution Control Agency play in assisting the Environmental Protection Agency in upholding policies. The presenter will then open the floor to questions regarding programs that local air agencies offer, what is done with the data that is collected, and what to expect as a college graduate interested in this field of work.
Have you ever wondered what types of jobs are available in the atmospheric sciences? In this session, aimed at current job seekers, we will explore the multiple types of careers available around air quality and climate change in federal, state and local government as well as the private and non-profit sectors. We will also discuss strategies for resolving which career pathway is best for you!
This event is open to all University of Cincinnati alumni, regardless of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, sexual orientation, or any other class or status protected by applicable law.
Emma Kamrass
Director, Alumni Engagement, College of Arts and Sciences and UC Clermont
513-556-4344