This article reviews literature on the connection between urban green space access and environmental justice. It discusses the dynamics of the relationship as it relates to factors such as environmental quality, land use, and environmental health disparities. Urban development stresses the landscape and may compromise environmental quality. Since some communities are disproportionately impacted by changes in land use and land cover, understanding the environmental justice implications of changing the landscape is important. Likewise, the additive effects of degraded landscapes and decreased environmental quality have human health implications. The article covers information from a range of disciplines (e.g., urban ecology, sociology, public health, and environmental science) to address collective concerns related to green spaces and environmental justice. This article also articulates a gap in the literature related to empirical research on the subject.

The deepwater horizon (DWH) accident led to the release of an estimated 794,936,474 L of crude oil into the northern Gulf of Mexico over an 85 day period in 2010, resulting in the contamination of the Gulf of Mexico waters, sediments, permeable beach sands, coastal wetlands, and marine life. This study examines the potential response of the Eastern oyster’s microbiome to hydrocarbon contamination and compares it with the bacterial community responses observed from the overlaying water column (WC) and the oyster bed sediments. For this purpose, microcosms seeded with DWH crude oil were established and inoculated separately with oyster tissue (OT), mantle fluid (MF), overlaying WC, and sediments (S) collected from Apalachicola Bay, FL, USA. Shifts in the microbial community structure in the amended microcosms was monitored over a 3-month period using automated ribosomal intergenic spacer region analysis, which showed that the microbiome of the OT and MF were more similar to the sediment communities than those present in the overlaying WC. This pattern remained largely consistent, regardless of the concentration of crude oil or the enrichment period. Additionally, 72 oil-degrading bacteria were isolated from the microcosms containing OT, MF, WC, and S and identified using 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing and compared by principal component analysis, which clearly showed that the WC isolates were different to those identified from the sediment. Conversely, the OT and MF isolates clustered together; a strong indication that the oyster microbiome is uniquely structured relative to its surrounding environment. When selected isolates from the OT, MF, WC, and S were assessed for their oil-degrading potential, we found that the DWH oil was biodegraded between 12 and 42%, under the existing conditions.

Food is the essential foundation for sustainable and healthy communities. Increasing population and urbanization, limited resources, and complexities of interactions necessitate a comprehensive and in-depth understanding of the dynamics of the global trend of urbanization. The key objective of this paper is to generate new environmental, social and economic perspectives and practices that are responsive to the rapidly urbanizing agricultural food system. We used the sustainability paradigm in the context of environmental, social, and economic sustainability to outline the three transitioning states and perspectives (unconnected/silos; interconnected/linkages; and interdependent/nested/systems) for urban agricultural food systems. We sought to ferret out the key driver/response variables and their cross-scale interactions in the urbanizing food-energy-water nexus. We used a five-step qualitative analytical method to develop a conceptual model to capture the interacting variables and their responses. The complexity in the driver/response variables and their cross-scale interactions were identified. Then three hypothetical scenarios were used to represent complexity modeling: least, medium and most complex. These variables were combined with outside dimensions (e.g., innovation, stakeholders, urbanization) for selected scenarios and deconstructed using spider web and causal loop models. The urbanizing socio-ecological systems, across various spatial (local to global) and temporal scales (days to millennium) as well as smaller temporal scales (days to decades) are described. The iterative multidimensionality of the model makes clear new ways of seeing social issues and opens opportunities for policy solutions, resources and stakeholders to be brought to bear on the issues.

Blacks have persistently higher rates of high blood pressure, or hypertension, compared to whites, resulting in higher health costs and greater mortality. Recent research has shown that social and environmental factors – such as high levels of stress and exposure to lead – may explain racial disparities in hypertension. Based on these findings, we recommend a fundamental shift in approaches to health disparities to focus on these sorts of cumulative risks and health effects. Federal and state agencies and research institutions should develop strategic plans to learn more about these connections and apply the broader findings to policies to improve health disparities.

Multiple treatment (i.e., drying, chemical digestion, and oxidation) steps are often required during preparation of biological matrices for quantitative analysis of mercury; these multiple steps could potentially lead to systematic errors and poor recovery of the analyte. In this study, the Direct Mercury Analyzer (Milestone Inc., Monroe, CT) was utilized to measure total mercury in fish tissue by integrating steps of drying, sample combustion and gold sequestration with successive identification using atomic absorption spectrometry. We also evaluated the differences between the mercury concentrations found in samples that were homogenized and samples with no preparation. These results were confirmed with cold vapor atomic absorbance and fluorescence spectrometric methods of analysis. Finally, total mercury in wild captured largemouth bass (n = 20) were assessed using the Direct Mercury Analyzer to examine internal variability between mercury concentrations in muscle, liver and brain organs. Direct analysis of total mercury measured in muscle tissue was strongly correlated with muscle tissue that was homogenized before analysis (r = 0.81, p < 0.0001). Additionally, results using this integrated method compared favorably (p < 0.05) with conventional cold vapor spectrometry with atomic absorbance and fluorescence detection methods. Mercury concentrations in brain were significantly lower than concentrations in muscle (p < 0.001) and liver (p < 0.05) tissues. This integrated method can measure a wide range of mercury concentrations (0-500 μg) using small sample sizes. Total mercury measurements in this study are comparative to the methods (cold vapor) commonly used for total mercury analysis and are devoid of laborious sample preparation and expensive hazardous waste.

Despite a rich history of collaborative and engaged scholarship and the recent “participatory turn” in anthropology few anthropology departments train students in the philosophy or methods of collaboration. Graduate training is typically characterized by conventional classroom-based lectures and individualized projects, while participatory research is thought of as something scholars can do later in their careers. The 2013 Health Equity Alliance of Tallahassee (HEAT) Ethnographic Field School disrupted this paradigm. The Field School used a community-based participatory research (CBPR) framework to train graduate students and community stakeholders in applied research methods through participation in an established community/university research partnership, examining race, racism, and health outcomes. The Field School was comprised of a racially, economically, and educationally diverse, intergenerational, multicultural, and multiethnic group of participants. Reflecting on this experience, we challenge the myth of the “lone ethnographer” and argue for a reorientation in anthropological methods training towards transdisciplinary, participatory, and collaborative ethnographic methods.

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Community-based Participatory Research (CBPR) provides a methodology that creates mutually beneficial and equitable partnerships between researchers and community people involved in positive change. Participatory Action Research (PAR) is rooted in trust, connectivity, and reciprocity to address issues and actions that remedy inequitable social, economic, and environmental problems arising from racism rooted in structural/political imbalances. In this paper, we discuss the Health Equity Alliance of Tallahassee (HEAT) and its affiliated six week Ethnographic Field School that trains graduate students in CBPR methodology by bringing faculty, local community activists and stakeholders, and students together for mutual learning in dynamic classroom, community, and social settings. The paper offers reflections on the experience by a student, HEAT activist, local and visiting faculty, and demonstrate how a model field school based on PAR offers an empirical approach to building capacity to address power inequities in local settings and beyond.