LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 25, 2022) The 17th Annual Spring Conference of the University of Kentucky Center for Clinical and Translational Science will be held April 5th. It will focus on climate and health and feature a keynote address and book signing by Robert Bullard, Ph.D., who is considered to be the father of environmental justice.
The conference, which is open to the public and free, will be held at the UK Gatton Student Center. Masks are welcome. Bullards keynote address will be also available via livestream for conference registrants. However, it will not be recorded. Register now to view the full agenda. Here;Please register by March 28.
Bullard’s influential career began in 1979 with the Bean v. Southwestern Waste Management, Inc. trial. It fought for the placement of a landfill to be built in an 82% Black neighborhood in Texas. Bullard, a trained socioologist, was called as an expert witness in this trial. He conducted what would become the first comprehensive account on ecoracism in America. He conducted a study entitled Solid Waste Sites & the Black Houston Community. He found that while Black residents made up only 25% of the local population, 14 out of 17 garbage dumps, incinerators, and landfills were located in Black neighborhoods. This was due to decisions made by white city leaders without any input from Black residents. The Bean case was unique in that it used civil rights laws to challenge environmental discrimination in the siting of waste facilities.
Bullard’s environmental justice research grew in the south over the years. His first book, Dumping in Dixie, Race, Class and Environmental Quality, was published in 1990. Since then, 17 books have been published that address sustainable development, environmental injustice, urban land use, industrial facility sitting, community reinvestment, affordable housing, transportation, climate justice, disasters, emergency response, community resilience, smart growing, regional equity, as well as other topics.
There are many awards that he has received for his activism, but the United Nations Environment Program is one of the highlights. Champions of the Earth Lifetime Achievement Award(2020); The Children’s Environmental Health Networks Child Health Advocate Award(2017); American Bar Associations Excellence in Environmental, Energy, and Resource Stewardship(2015); Sierra Clubs John Muir Award(2013). Newsweek named them one of 13Environmental Leaders of the Century (2008).
Bullard is currently Distinguished University Professor of Urban Planning and Director of the Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice, Texas Southern University. He also co-founded the Historically Black College & University Climate Change Consortium and aU.S. Marine Corps veteran.
We are honored to have Dr. Bullard as our guest. Her pioneering work in ensuring that everyone has the rights to live, work, play and enjoy a healthy environment in the South has helped to understand how longstanding injustices continue causing worse health outcomes, especially for people of colour and those without socioeconomic resource, said Erin N. Haynes Dr.PH., conference co-chair, Erin N. Haynes, Dr.PH. and associate director at the CCTS Kurt W. Deuschle professor of Environmental Health and Environmental Health.
William C. Haneberg Ph.D. is a state geologist and director of the Kentucky Geological Survey. He also serves as a research professor at UK’s Earth & Environmental Sciences Department. He is also co-chair of the conference.
After the keynote, Haneberg, Lala Ma (Ph.D.), assistant professor of Economics in the UK Gatton School of Business and Economics, and Tom Fitz Fitzgerald (J.D.), adjunct professor of Energy and Environmental Law at theBrandeisSchool of Law,University of Louisville, will host a Climate and Health Panel Conversation. A Q&A will follow the brief presentations from advocates, geologists, and environmental economists.
Students from Fredrick Douglass Secondary School will Present Research
The Lexington Fredrick Douglass High School Biomedical Science Pathway program will also be a highlight of this year’s CCTS conference. This group includes 55 high school juniors, 60% of whom are from historically underrepresented backgrounds in biomedicine research. Twenty students will present research posters on cancer at noon during the conference at the Gatton Students Center Grand Ballroom.
Students will also be able to tour UK’s Markey Cancer Center where researchers will give feedback on posters. They will also get a crash course with Joel Thompson, Ph.D., CCTS’ research development director.
Amanda Ellis, Ph.D. assistant professor of Biostatistics in UK College of Public Health serves as faculty liaison to Fredrick Douglass’ High School’s outreach program. Jennifer OBrien is the Douglass teacher and leads the Biomedical Pathways program. She is currently completing a Master’s degree in UKs College of Public Health. Ellis did an internship over the summer which was how the CPH/Fredrick Douglass High School partnership began.
Ellis, a first generation college graduate and director for CPH’s new masters degree in biostatistics and diversity, is deeply committed towards ensuring that students of all backgrounds can reach the graduate and professional levels. She hopes that students of high schools will be able prepare for the many opportunities in health sciences by partnering with the Biomedical Pathways program.
These are students who want help people. We hope this partnership will show them that there are other options than becoming a doctor or nurse. We have a pipeline problem when it comes trying to recruit diverse students at the upper levels, because we haven’t done enough to create equity and diversity at the undergrad level. We must create pathways that will allow students to graduate earlier than they are in college.
The CCTS conference also features:
- More than 200 posters from different disciplines
- The Von Allmen Foundation 60-Second Plaster Pitch Competition
- Mentor Recognition Awards
- College of Dentistry Research Day
- College of Nursing Scholarship Showcase
- College of Public Health Research Day
- College of Health Sciences Research Day
The UK Appalachian Center & Appalachian Studies Program, Center for the Environment and Center for Health Equity Transformation were co-sponsors.
The CCTS is happy to present this conference each and every year as part of its mission of accelerating discoveries that improve health and training future generations of translational researchers.
The project described was supported by the NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences through grant numberUL1TR001998.The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.
