By: Evelyn Zavala, Science Intern I was drawn to working with CHEJ because of their work with communities across the United States of diverse backgrounds, socio-economic status, ethnicities, geographical locations, and education. CHEJ is where the community meets science, environment, health, and justice. Recently we have seen how vital this relationship really is. While the snowstorms of 2021 are seen across the country, Texas has been hit hard. Within Texas, minority and marginalized communities were hit even worse.  Social Determinants of Health are described as the conditions in the environment

By: Kristen Millstein, Communications Intern In the summer of 2016, I traveled to the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. I was in high school and had not spent significant time outside my California bubble. Pine Ridge was like a different world. While there, I learned from tribal leaders about the continual violation of their sovereignty and the trauma caused by a history of massacres and loss of sacred land. At the time, I looked at these atrocities through the lens of colonization. It has only been since I joined

By Mihir Vohra, Research Associate In the fight to end our reliance on fossil fuels, most of the focus has been on the dangers of carbon dioxide emissions, but other emissions are harmful as well. Particulate matter (PM) is a type of air pollution made up of a mixture of dust, chemicals, and liquid droplets and gets released into the air through fossil fuel combustion. When inhaled, PM enters the lungs and bloodstream, exacerbating existing respiratory tract illnesses and causing lung disease, heart disease, and lung cancer. Very small PM

By: Benjamin Silver, Science and Technology Intern I never imagined that a five-gigabyte software on my laptop could contain an approach to fighting environmental injustice. The keys lie somewhere between map frames and advanced geostatistical interpolations. Before interning at CHEJ, I had an incomplete understanding of environmental justice. I pictured the field solely as activists and victims opposing corporate polluters. Although I understood that research supports these organizing efforts, I never considered methods that scientists adopt to evaluate ecological data. One of these methods is GIS (geographic information systems), a

By: Leija Helling, Organizing Intern Today marks the inauguration of Joe Biden as our president and there is work to be done. Across the country, groups are coming together in an effort to push the incoming administration on progressive policies. We must continue to demand better from our government and, unlike over the past four years, we are soon to have a White House that just might listen. Throughout the past few months, part of my work at CHEJ has included contributing to our Unequal Response Unequal Protection campaign, a