Recent Research & Community Projects
Environmental Justice Worldmaking
“EJ Worldmaking” is a 3-year university-community initiative funded by Humanities Without Walls. Through cross-institutional cooperation in research, teaching, and scholarship, we envision and enact “Redistribution and Reciprocity for a Just Transition.” Partners to this project include the Minnesota EJ Table, University of Minnesota, the Environmental Justice Health Alliance (Atlanta), and Spelman College.
*Featured in the photo are Professor Rose Brewer and grad student Isaac Esposto.
Kawe Gidaa-naanaagadawendaamin Manoomin Collaborative
“First we must consider Manoomin / Psiη (wild rice)”
Launched in January 2018, Kawe Gidaa-naanaagadawendaamin Manoomin Collaborative (First We Must Consider Manoomin/Psiη ) is a collaboration among tribes, intertribal treaty organizations, and University of Minnesota faculty, staff, and students, that prioritizes tribal views on the cultural significance and ecology of Manoomin / Psiη (Wild Rice), and the policies related to it. Since 2019, I have conducted social dimensions research on best practices in state-tribal consultation and bridging worldviews in university-tribal collaborations.
CREATE Initiative & Gullah/Geechee Nation Collaborative
The CREATE Initiative advances research and education at the intersection of environment and equity through community engagement, interdisciplinary scholarship, and graduate training. As a summer 2020 fellow, I worked in partnership with the Gullah/Geechee Nation to explore Black cultural, land, and climate resiliency. Specifically, our team completed a community grant application to the NSF CIVIC program, formed a new legal partnership for the Gullah/Geechee Nation, and created the “St. Helena Island” StoryMap website on the environmental story of St. Helena Island, S.C.
Anti-Racism Advocacy at University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
There has been a strong surge in student advocacy for anti-racism policy at University of Minnesota since the murder of George Floyd in May 2020 and the rise of the COVID pandemic in early 2020. Much of the advocacy I have been involved in was born out of frustrations over the inaction of university leadership and staff. Some of the initiatives I have organized on include the Anti-Racism Letter to the Department of Forest Resources, the cross-departmental student organizing of the Anti-Racism Coalition, and the Critical Race and Ethnic Studies (CRES) UMN COVID-19 Statement.
#STOPLINE3
Enbridge Line 3 is a pipeline expansion project across the 1863, 1855, and 1854 Treaty Territories of Anishinaabe tribes in northern Minnesota. Line 3 proposes to bring nearly a million barrels of tar sands oil per day from Alberta, Canada to Superior, Wisconsin. The pipeline proposal and construction have been met with strong, Indigenous-led resistance. As well as being active on the frontline in summer 2021, I organize for Line 3 resistance with Right of Mississippi River and Science for the People-Twin Cities. Fruits of our organizing labor included a Paddle for Nibi journey in June, a press conference at Mississippi River Headwaters in July, a Water Protectors-led water sampling effort to monitor Enbridge’s drilling mud frac-outs, and a letter from 42 scientists to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MNDNR) opposing the 5 billion gallon dewatering permit issued to Enbridge Corporation.
(Image credit: Ron Turney, IEN)