53 Community Engaged Research for Environmental Sustainability and Community Resilience

We welcome trans-disciplinary submissions with a strong focus on community engagement in research development or implementation, especially research addressing issues of sustainability in water, air quality, land use, energy, climate change, and environmental justice.

Sunday, 19 October 2025
1:30 PM - 5:30 PM
HBGCC, 302B

Tracking Environmental Inequities through Community-Partnered Air Monitoring Initiatives

Paper number: 53-9
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 2:50 PM – 3:05 PM

Authors

Abstract

Industry and infrastructure in central Texas have seen significant expansion in recent years, following trends in population and economic activity. As new emissions sources arise in socially and environmentally vulnerable communities, there is a growing need to understand local experiences of air pollution and environmental injustice. This work focuses on the collective efforts of grassroots leaders and academic partners tracking environmental changes in communities adjacent to new infrastructure developments. Through surveys, health fairs, and community meetings, an interest in air quality monitoring near a major new emissions source is established. Following an analysis of relevant environmental permits, a community-partnered air monitoring network is established, and methods for communicating environmental data are explored. The partnerships established in this work prove critical not only to the success of this monitoring effort, but also to the identification of additional environmental concerns that merit monitoring and investigation. 

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 57, No. 6

doi: 10.1130/abs/2025AM-414574

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