Browsing by Author "Clark, Benjamin"

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    Addressing Risks of Lead in Water and Soil: Using Citizen Science and a Unique Partnership with Faith Organizations
    (ENGAGE! Co-created Knowledge Serving the City, 2021-10-12) Filippelli, Gabriel; Hicks, Ivan; Druschel, Gregory; Kelly, Jason M.; Shukle, John; Strout, Spencer; Nichols, Natalie; Stroud, Dawson; Ottenweller, Megan; Ohrberg, Makayla; Longbrake, Marisa; Wood, Leah; Clark, Benjamin; Fryling, Kevin
    One of the most widespread environmental health hazards in the United States remains exposure to the harmful neurotoxin lead. So much lead remains in the urban environment that it is not unusual to find neighborhoods where more than 10% of children exhibit harmful levels of lead, compared to the national average of about 1%. To overcome this challenge, a partnership between IUPUI researchers and faith organizations in Indianapolis is taking aim at the risk of household lead contamination by providing residents the tools they need to protect against it. The community-driven science aspect of this project is intentional—not only will the individuals who participate benefit directly, but the resulting data will also play a role in keeping communities safer more broadly.
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    Environmental Racism in Indianapolis: The Importance of Connecting with Community Partners
    (IUI Office of Community Engagement, 2021) Clark, Benjamin; American Studies, School of Liberal Arts
    Community-engaged research, grounded in the humanities and social sciences and rooted in ethnographic methods, can provide important insights into the ways that environmental racism impacts neighborhoods and communities. The Anthropocene Household project at the IUPUI Arts & Humanities Institute explores the current geological epoch, the Age of Humans, on a local level through the lens of the household in order to understand the experiences, knowledges, and practices associated with environmental change. In my research, I am looking at these experiences and understandings specifically related to environmental racism. In this paper I would like to explore two different examples of environmental racism in Indianapolis. One illustrates how white privilege plays a role in creating environmental racism and the other shows the impact of white supremacy in shaping government response to an issue of environmental racism. Both examples demonstrate the value in foregrounding the voices and experiences of the people who are living in these impacted communities. We cannot develop meaningful interventions into environmental racism without understanding these lived experiences and creating space to hear these voices.