Celebrating the Contributions of African American Science Policy Experts
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Happy Juneteenth all!
This day is a testament to the enduring struggle of African Americans for freedom, rights, and equity. An issue that often shows up in science policy spaces through barriers to communities of color participating in policy development or other forms of public participation, environmental injustices, or a lack of space made for people of color in the scientific workforce. These are issues that I believe the scientific community should be consistently aware of, not just today or one month out of the year, but every single day.
Today, SciLight would like to celebrate the many contributions of African American science policy experts who use their expertise to make the world a healthier, safer, and more equitable place to live.
Dr. Chandra Prescod-Weinstein
Dr. Prescod-Weinstein, a theoretical physicist and self-described Black Feminist Humanist, has made significant contributions to the fields of particle physics, cosmology, and astrophysics. Her work has been published in numerous books and publications and she has been a vocal advocate for equality in science. She was awarded the 2017 LGBT+ Physicists Acknowledgement of Excellence Award for her outstanding contributions. Her award announcement reads:
Dr. Prescod-Weinstein's work includes fighting for the rights of native Hawaiians to their lands in opposition to the Thirty Meter Telescope; educating and holding accountable many physicists on issues of race, including multiple of us within lgbt+physicists; Co-Chairing the Annual Meeting of the National Society of Black Physicists and the National Society of Hispanic Physicists, and is a founding member of the AAS's Committee on Sexual Orientation and Gender Minorities in Astronomy.
Dr. Prescod-Weinstein previously wrote about equality in science issues on Substack, but her newsletter has since moved to newsletter.chanda.science. Her phenomenal newsletter tackles multiple problems at the intersections of science and DEIA. In this newsletter, you can find her first iteration of a Zotero library aimed at encouraging more people to cite Black women+ in physics and astronomy. Subscribe to her newsletter and follow her work - I promise that you won’t regret it.
Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson
Dr. Johnson is a marine scientist who advocates for progress on climate change and strong environmental policy. She has written several award-winning books on these issues, including All We Can Save and What if We Get It Right? She co-authored the Blue New Deal, a roadmap for including the ocean in climate policy, and has developed ocean policy with federal agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Dr. Johnson also has written about how inequality and racism derail our efforts to better our environment.
Dr. Johnson’s work is a recognized leader on climate. She was named as one of the Times 100 Next emerging leaders in 2021, has been a featured Ted talk speaker, and written and been quoted by national news outlets such as The New York Times and The Washington Post. I’ve known about Dr. Johnson’s work for a while now, and it is well worth your time to follow her work and read anything she publishes.
Dr. Adrienne Hollis
Dr. Adrienne Hollis is currently the Vice President of Environmental Justice, Public Health, and Community Revitalization for the National Wildlife Federation (NWF). She holds a Ph.D. in biomedical sciences as well as a J.D. from Rutgers Law with a concentration in patent law. Dr. Hollis has used her expertise to work with communities and governing agencies to advance environmental and climate justice. She has been a leader in researching and advocating for climate change to be considered a public health issue.
Dr. Hollis is currently the Co-Director of the EPA Region III Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Center (EJ TCTAC) grant - one of 16 communities that received funding to help underserved and overburdened communities nationwide. She serves on several advisory boards, teaches at the George Washington University’s Milken School of Public Health, and served as an author for the National Climate Assessment. She has written for several prominent journals and media outlets - look up her work and follow what she’s up to!
Vernice Miller-Travis
Vernice is a civil rights and environmental policy analyst, advocate, and pioneer of the modern-day environmental justice movement. She contributed to the landmark report “Toxic Waste and Race in the United States” and co-founded the environmental justice organization WeACT. She also founded the National Resources Defense Council’s Environmental Justice Initiative.
Through her work with the Metropolitan Group and other organizations, Vernice continues to be a leader in environmental justice and community-centered research. She serves on several advisory boards and guides federal agencies. Vernice’s work was celebrated and featured in the Anacostia Community Museum’s recent exhibit, “To Live and Breathe: Women and Environmental Justice in Washington, D.C.” I have been fortunate to work with Vernice and can attest that she is a beacon of knowledge whose work brings hope. If I see her name on anything - I’m learning more about it, and you should, too.
Dr. Frank A. Franklin
Dr. Frank Franklin served as the Deputy Health Commissioner for the City of Philadelphia. He is an epidemiologist by training but also holds a J.D. in Law, Health, and Public Policy. Dr. Franklin advocates for diversifying the scientific workforce across the nation and previously collaborated with me and colleagues to produce a report on this issue. He is a former National Board of Scientific Counselors member of the National Center for Injury Control and Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Dr. Franklin is a leader in public health and equity. He has given talks that discuss the intersections between racism, poverty, and public health - in this talk, Dr. Franklin also discusses his own experiences with the world as an African American scientist. He also has been outspoken about trauma, violence, disparities, and equity. Recently, Dr. Franklin was announced as the Interim Health Commissioner for the City of Philadelphia. His intersectional approach to tackling public health issues is much needed, and I’m excited to see his expertise elevated in Philadelphia. Make sure to follow Dr. Franklin’s work, and if you can ever attend one of his talks, absolutely do it.
There are so many more leaders!
This list is not exhaustive at all - there are so many other leaders in the science policy space doing amazing work daily. So, if I’ve missed someone you know about and want to encourage me and SciLight readers to follow, please drop their name and a link in the comment section below. Otherwise, I hope you take this day to reflect and celebrate.