About the Initiative
The Environmental and Epistemic Justice Initiative at Wake Forest University is a Mellon Foundation funded research and pedagogical project that brings together students, scholars, activists, journalists, and public officials in a multi-pronged effort to imagine, design, and develop a humanistic Science and Technology Studies curriculum that places at its center environmental and epistemic justice in critically examine how and in what ways race and regimes of racial knowledge shape and inform our scholarly practices, public policies, and normative concerns.
“The ultimate goal of this initiative is to cultivate a new generation of students and scholars who understand that a complex knowledge of race and processes of racialization are critical to comprehending and responding to our current environmental crisis.”
“All people are entitled to equal environmental protection regardless of race, color, or national origin. Environmental justice is the right to live and work and play in a clean environment.”
– Robert D. Bullard
Environmental Justice Pioneer and Distinguished Professor at Texas Southern University
Institute
Learn more about our signature environmental justice summer institute
Applications are now open for the Environmental and Epistemic Justice 2025 Summer Institute. The deadline to apply is February 28, 2025.
Programs
Learn more about our diverse environmental and epistemic justice programs
People
Learn more about the diverse group of Wake Forest University environmental justice scholars
Events
2024 Mellon EEJI Summit
Headlines & Footnotes:
Environmental Justice in an Age of Planetary Crisis
Please visit our YouTube channel to view all the panels.
News
Sanitation blues in Alabama’s Black Belt
November 22, 2024
This week, we’re on the road in Alabama. Environmental Justice reporter Danny McArthur looks at wastewater issues in the Black Belt, reporting that sanitation is a struggle for people who live in manufactured homes.
Alabama Black Belt’s sewer crisis a tougher fix for residents in manufactured homes
November 21, 2024
Willie Perryman pulls up to his manufactured home in Letohatchee, Alabama. He was down at his church, helping distribute food, but had to come back to meet with the Black Belt Unincorporated Wastewater Program (BBUWP), a local nonprofit visiting his home to check out his sanitation situation.
Washington state farm workers worry about boom in legal foreign workers
November 14, 2024
The H-2A program might grow under Trump and mass deportations
Melba Newsome takes 1st place at 2024 Science Communicators of North Carolina awards
Melba Newsome was awarded first place at the 2024 Science Communicators of North Carolina awards for her article “River Guardians.” A distinguished journalist, Melba Newsome is project coordinator for the Wake Forest University-Mellon Foundation Environmental and Epistemic Justice Initiative.
New legal agreement aims to stop water pollution at largest NC landfill
A constant stream of 18-wheeler trucks file into the Sampson County landfill, located next to a small, historically-Black community named Snow Hill. The front of the facility is adorned with lush landscaping. From afar, it looks like a large hill of dirt.
“I call it a toxic dump, but most people here call it a landfill,” said longtime resident Whitney Parker.
Summer heat in schools makes indoor learning insufferable
September 5, 2024
Summer may be coming to a close, but that doesn’t guarantee that many classrooms opening across New York City this week won’t be stifling, as lingering elevated outdoor temperatures and indoor temperatures keep old buildings and everyone in them feeling the heat.
Follow us on Twitter | @WFUEEJI
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A critical and informative program on environmental justice with featuring @DukeU Prof. Ryan Emanuel @WaterPotential, @CorbanAddison, and @WFUEEJI’s project coordinator and award winning journalist Melba Newsome.
PVC plastic is everywhere—so is the risk of cancer from the toxic substance used to make that plastic. Urge the EPA to act NOW before more lives are put in danger!
A little over 2 weeks after Hurricane Helene turned living rooms into murky pools and washed away homes, evictions and foreclosures are picking back up.
There is a long history of hurricanes being used to displace Black folks, it might happen again.
THIS WEEK! We are excited to welcome our 2024 @WFUEEJI Summer Institute Faculty, Fellows, Environmental Justice Activists and Organizers, and @WakeForest Faculty.
Industrial-scale wood pellet fuel plants that have devastated communities and forests in the Southeast United States are now moving into Pacific Northwest. Community groups are fighting back. https://ejus.tc/4cz0nu3
Tune in to PBS’s POV on Monday, June 24th to see KING COAL, a film by Oscar-nominated Elaine McMillion Sheldon. KING COAL will be available for streaming on PBS platforms starting June 24th.
https://www.kingcoalfilm.com/
