What Are the Scientific and Data Needs of Energy and Environmental Justice Groups? A Nationwide Survey to Aid Collaboration and Engagement

As a part of the social-justice-driven laboratory, re-Engineered at Arizona State University, this paper documents the preliminary results of a national survey of environmental justice (EJ) groups. The survey consists of a two-part process including an online questionnaire and phone interview focusing on the broad and specific technical needs of EJ groups. We utilize a qualitative content analysis to categorize these technical needs, which we define as any need for scientific, engineering, or other area of technical expertise that EJ groups identify. Furthermore, we analyzed the barriers to meeting these needs and/or accessing experts across a variety of economic, technical, political, and social categories. The results show that there are system-level solutions that scientists and engineers may develop to address multiple EJ groups needs through knowledge and tool sharing, collaborative learning, and greater access to financial resources. In particular, we will focus on results that stress the opportunities for using satellite imagery, remote sensing, atmospheric modeling, and air quality monitoring, as areas in which groups might benefit from collaborations with experts. Our goal is to bring these issues to the attention of experts at AMS in order to help connect communities with experts who can help them meet their goals for environmental justice. Building on the theme of the session, our paper will focus on the "potential for use in applications designed to further the aims of public health, air quality, and environmental groups (including those focused on environmental justice)" and will present opportunities for directly collaborating with and engaging the public through scientific work. We will also present our platform and ongoing networks for connecting scientists with EJ communities across the US. We invite discussion and comments in order to improve our platform, and we encourage attendees to help us expand our network of scientists and experts.