Overcoming Blind Spots to Promote Environmental Justice Research

Miriti, Maria N.; Bowser, Gillian; Cid, Carmen R.; Harris, Nyeema C.

doi:10.1016/j.tree.2020.12.011

Cited by 14 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Ecological research increasingly includes social-ecological processes, yet incorporation of environmental justice remains low (28). Environmental justice highlights the need for a just and even access and sampling of natural resources -including opportunities to sample biodiversity, as well as a fair representation in education and policy (28).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Uneven biodiversity sampling across redlined urban areas in the United States

Ellis-Soto¹,

Chapman²,

Locke³

2022

Preprint

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Citizen science data has rapidly gained influence in urban ecology and conservation planning, but with limited understanding of how such data reflects social, economic, and political conditions and legacies. Understanding patterns of sampling bias across socioeconomic gradients is critical to accurately map and understand biodiversity patterns, and to generating representative and just environmental knowledge. In this study we explore how historic racially-explicit zoning policies (redlining) relate to biodiversity data collection across and within 195 metropolitan areas in the United States covering >30 million people across 38 states. We specifically look at birds, as they are the most widely studied group of animals, and hundreds of thousands of citizen scientists collect biodiversity data each year. We consistently find uneven bird observation sampling density across redlined areas, with so-called ‘desirable’ areas (i.e. historically white areas) having more than twice the density than areas redlined as ‘hazardous’. We further estimate the degree to which historically redlined areas are surveyed sufficiently and identify regions across all metro areas in need of enhanced bird surveying. After accounting for differences in vegetation, open space, and climate, we find significantly lower sampling density and sampling completeness in these redlined neighborhoods. Our results shed light on the importance of considering socio-political conditions in the interpretation of urban biodiversity estimates. We conclude by discussing specific policy implementations– such as the Justice 40 Initiative and propose a new EPA indicator – and opportunities in collaborating with bottom-up community and social justice organizations for a more representative understanding of biodiversity in urban areas.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Uneven biodiversity sampling across redlined urban areas in the United States

Ellis-Soto¹,

Chapman²,

Locke³

2022

Preprint

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“…Some examples of actions that could be taken are: acknowledging historical gender barriers, biases and discrimination in freshwater sciences research; establishing double-blind review in journals and project calls; supporting the participation of women with family duties in scientific meetings; or guaranteeing gender equality in scientific committees and councils. The success of these strategies and diversity interventions requires considering other historically underrepresented groups and their intersection with gender identity (Miriti et al, 2021). We must work diligently, be more aware of barriers for women, and at the same time embrace models of leadership and scientific management different from those currently established.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Women in limnology: From a historical perspective to a present‐day evaluation

et al. 2022

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Research in limnology is nurtured by the work of many fascinating and passionate women, who have contributed enormously to our understanding of inland waters. Female limnologists have promoted and established the bases of our knowledge about inland waters and fostered the need of protecting the values of those ecosystems. However, on numerous occasions, their contribution to the advancement of limnology has not been duly recognized. Here, we review the presence of women in limnology through the history of the discipline: from the pioneers who contributed to the origins to present day' developments. We aim at visibilizing those scientists and establish them as role models. We also analyze in a simple and illustrative way the current situation of women in limnology, the scientific barriers

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“…This includes understanding who the relevant stakeholders are and their level of power and connection within the conservation context, including the information flows and inherent pre‐existing social structures, and where the involved conservation professionals and organisation sit (de Lange et al, 2019). For example, certain customs and traditions may mean that targeting of specific demographics (e.g., across gender, class, and race) reinforce pre‐existing inequities or increase the vulnerability of certain individuals (Büscher et al, 2016; Miriti et al, 2021; Sandbrook, 2017). For example, the Half‐Earth proposal (Wilson, 2016)—which suggests that half the Earth should be converted to protected areas in order to protect biodiversity and ecosystem services—would result in drastic social and cultural impacts associated with the physical and economic displacement of and dispossession of land from local communities and Traditional Owners/First Nations (Büscher et al, 2016).…”

Section: Considerations For Ethical Conservation Messaging Research A...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Conservation science itself contributes to power dynamics through its colonial history and complicity in historical and ongoing inequity and injustices against marginalised communities (Chaudhury & Colla, 2021; Kiik, 2018; Miriti et al, 2021). This means that there are contemporary socioeconomic contexts where conservation organisations still hold considerable influence over how individuals understand and use their social and ecological environment, including through significant financial, political, and social resources that may not be available to the communities they are working within (Sandbrook, 2017).…”

Section: Considerations For Ethical Conservation Messaging Research A...mentioning

confidence: 99%