August 26th, 2023
7pm – 9pm
In Person
Location: Manuel’s Tavern, 602 North Highland Avenue Northeast, Atlanta, GA 30307
Atlanta Science Tavern: Environmental Justice in Hazardous Waste Clean-Ups
Description
Environmental issues are unique because they are not confined to the geography location of their origin, and this lack of containment means that we all pay the price for environmental damage around the world. By using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) we can visualize how the burden of environmental degradation is dispersed in different locations. This doesn’t always happen in an equitable way, however. Enter: environmental justice, which describes the way we address the disproportionate burden of environmental issues among marginalized groups.
This has been identified fairly recently compared to other environmental issues, so most environmental policy was not created with environmental justice in mind. This is certainly true in the case of Georgia’s Hazardous Waste and Solid Waste Trust Funds. These were created to provide funding to help clean up abandoned hazardous waste sites and landfills, but the current prioritization of these sites does not take environmental justice concerns into account. The Georgia Water Coalition and Science for Georgia are seeking to bring awareness to this issue by using GIS, in hopes that the funding will be given to the communities that are most in need.
Featured Speaker:
Cierra Walsh, Science for Georgia Intern, Undergrad at Kennesaw State University
Cierra is a fourth-year undergraduate student at Kennesaw State University. She entered KSU as an environmental science student, but discovered an interest in geographic information systems (GIS) GIS and map-making during her time there. She is currently enrolled in the Geospatial Sciences program, with a concentration in Human-Environment Systems. Cierra’s interests lie mainly in environmental issues and human geography, and she hopes to use maps and GIS to help communicate information about these interests to as many people as possible. Her interest in science communication brought her to Science for Georgia, where she is part of a team that is creating a GIS tool to help evaluate environmental justice concerns throughout Georgia.
Agenda
August 26th, 2023
Manuel’s Tavern, 602 North Highland Avenue Northeast, Atlanta, GA 30307
6:30pm – Doors Open
7:00pm – Gather at Manuel’s
7:15pm – Talk start
8:00pm – Q & A
