ESA releases free collection of environmental justice research

Experts including Eastern's Carmen Cid available for comment

Willimantic, CT (11/13/2020) — The Ecological Society of America is offering a free online collection of articles representing fifteen years of environmental justice research published across the Society's six journals. The collection's editors are pioneering women ecologists Carmen Cid, professor and dean at Eastern Connecticut State University, and Gillian Bowser, professor at Colorado State University. The editors are available to provide comment to the media about the incorporation of human dimensions and justice issues into ecological research.

The collection includes research on the ecological factors associated with social inequities and environmental injustices, and offers insights into gaps in environmental justice research. In recent decades the ecological sciences have documented numerous examples of disparities in access to natural resources and cases of marginalized communities facing disproportionate exposure to environmental hazards.

"However, the broader problem of environmental racism has been viewed by many scholarly communities as a societal issue that is "somebody else's problem," rather than as a problem that environmental researchers must address," writes the ESA in a press release on the collection.

"Dr. Boswer and I have been working on environmental justice papers this year and elevating the human dimension in the teaching of undergraduate ecology," said Cid. "We did the research to develop this collection and present it to environmental professionals to encourage further work on environmental justice issues."

View the collection online at https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/toc/10.1002/(ISSN)9999-0005.environmental-justice-in-ecological-research

Environmental Justice Collection Editors:

Carmen R. Cid, professor and dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, Eastern Connecticut State University

cid@easternct.edu

860-335-7936

Carmen R. Cid is an urban wetland and forest ecologist who specializes in elevating the human dimension in ecology teaching and research, and on developing interdisciplinary curriculum to meet today's environmental workforce needs.

Gillian Bowser, associate professor, Colorado State University

gbowser@colostate.edu

970-491-5871

Gillian Bowser is an ecologist with broad interests that include pollinator diversity, citizen science and international sustainability. She worked with the National Park Service as an ecologist for most of her career on the management of different species in parks and protected areas. Her current work includes sustainability through project with the United Nationals with focus on climate justice and biodiversity loss.

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The Ecological Society of America, founded in 1915, is the world's largest community of professional ecologists and a trusted source of ecological knowledge, committed to advancing the understanding of life on Earth. The 9,000 member Society publishes five journals and a membership bulletin and broadly shares ecological information through policy, media outreach, and education initiatives. The Society's Annual Meeting attracts 4,000 attendees and features the most recent advances in ecological science. Visit the ESA website at https://www.esa.org.