Sandra Whitehead, director of the Sustainable Urban Planning program, recently co-authored an article exploring how "mixed methods" approaches to cumulative impact assessment can better assess and address historic, current and future public health impacts.
The article, “Mixed Methods Approaches: Structures and Methodologies for Cumulative Impact Assessment Development,” co-authored with Dr. Kristie Ellickson and Dr. Benjamin Pauli in the Journal of Environmental Justice, shares a mixed methods approach to cumulative impact assessment to address systemic and structural issues impacting communities.
“For researchers and policymakers to ever truly determine how multiple environmental threats impact people, shouldn’t they listen to the people impacted - not just the statistics?”
Dr. Sandra Whitehead
Director, Sustainable Urban Planning Program
This summer, Dr. Whitehead was recognized by the Environmental Justice Subcommittee of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy for her contributions to their report’s sections on assessing and addressing cumulative impacts associated with structural factors such as systemic racism and redlining. Her work on cumulative impact assessment stems from her service on the U.S. EPA's National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC), where she co-chaired a work group on the topic.
Most recently, she spoke at the EPA's Clean Air Act Advisory Council meeting about the National Environmental Justice Council's (NEJAC) recommendations on cumulative impact assessment. The recommendations document was put together by the workgroup of the NEJAC that she co-chaired and is part of a bigger strategy at the EPA to assess and address historical and structural injustice.
She was quoted in a September 19th Greenwire article “EPA panel seeks end game key to environmental justice,” about the EPA's Office of Air and Radiation seeking advice from their federal advisory committee on how they should integrate cumulative impact assessment into their regulatory work.
Dr. Whitehead is actively recognized as an expert in this area and sought after to present and advise on policy issues and recommendations related to her research.
Related Articles:
- “EPA panel seeks end game key to environmental justice,” Greenwire, September 19, 2024.
- Kudos: SUP Faculty Recognized at White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Workshop , August 23, 2024.
- “Mixed Methods Approaches: Structures and Methodologies for Cumulative Impact Assessment Development,” Journal of Environmental Justice (published online July 8, 2024).