Detroit's most polluted zip code: History, Science & Environmental Justice.

Speaker: Gavin Edwards, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Chemistry; Environmental Science and Society Interdisciplinary Program

Is the moniker "Detroit's most polluted zip code" deserved for 48217? Find out how its residents are fighting for a better future.

Dr. Edwards will describe some of the history of Detroit as a city with a large history of diversity, and how federal, state and local policies have marginalized many groups over the years. He will discuss the environmental movement and how air quality is everyone's concern and how these two issues are linked in the 48217 zip code. The zip code's residents have complained about the lack of environmental justice for the community.

Dr. Edwards was born in South Wales, UK, and received his PhD in Atmospheric Chemistry from the University of Leicester, UK. He did postdoctoral research work at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, CO and Purdue University in Indiana. Now an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry, Eastern Michigan University, he is part of a research group that measures both air quality, and the factors that influence it. His group is passionate about analyzing the quality of the air all citizens are exposed to, both in the Detroit urban corridor, and around the state of Michigan. They are engaged in ongoing efforts to build long term data-sets on how ozone and other gases are changing in concentration due to climate change, legislative policies and other factors