Environmental Justice

Feminist work hard to fight against damaging narratives. These are stories designed to harm or limit us. They stymie our imagination and vision of what the world can be. 

Sometimes we get called killjoys because of this. But the "joy" we kill is built upon pain, violence, and damage. We see this in narratives such as: Girls don't like sports. Women are bad at math. She asked for it. Feminists refute such world-constraining stories. In their place, we fashion realities that are caring, restorative, and life-affirming. 

This summer, the Feminist Research Institute hosted four Environmental Justice Scholars, who have been co-supported by the Institute of the Environment and the Graduate Program of Environmental Policy & Management. Here, we highlight these students, specifically their goals, their final project, and what they learned. 

We recognize that establishing trust and strong research partnerships takes time. Over the past three years, the EJLP has partnered 20 fellows from different community-based organizations with researchers at the UC Davis. For the 2025 EJLP, we invited former fellows to re-apply in order to continue building relationships with UC Davis researchers and advancing their research projects. This year, we are collaborating with the three EJ Leaders below. 

We’re excited to release the Environmental Justice Leaders Program (EJLP) Limited-series Podcast! In this series, we interviewed the six 2024 EJ Leaders who participated in the fellowship program.

We are thrilled to introduce the third cohort of the Environmental Justice Leaders Program! For the 2024 cohort, six leaders across California were selected to participate in a knowledge exchange with UC Davis researchers. The Leaders are very committed and passionate about creating change in their communities and come with many years of doing the work on the ground! This year’s theme is mobility justice, focusing on matters of emerging transportation and energy and their intersection with racial equity. 

Seasoned environmental justice professionals working in mobility justice are invited to apply for the 2024 UC Davis Environmental Justice (EJ) Leaders Program. Applications are open to all California-based leaders interested in collaborating with research communities at UC Davis to enhance their community-based efforts. This year’s programmatic theme is Mobility Justice: the rights of all to access freedom of movement in different spheres of life.

The faces highlighted by the environmental movement have not always represented the wide diversity of leaders within the field. This dearth in representation must be reckoned with if we are to address the crises of a changing climate. Environmental justice offers a path to change in how we shape the future and who is represented and working in environmental spaces.

Environmental justice communities across the country are fighting for their right to a safe, healthy, and liveable environment. Their efforts are far too often ignored by governments meant to protect their residents, with many of these communities facing an uphill battle in their fight for a better future.