The Health and Medical Geography Specialty Group is pleased to announce our co-sponsor of the Environment Justice session at the 2014 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers.  We would like to thank the leaders of this specialty group for inviting us to participate in their very relevant paper session!

2014 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers
April 8-12, Tampa, Florida

This session will be co-sponsored by the Cultural and Political Ecology Specialty Group, Hazards, Risks, and Disasters Specialty Group, and the Health and Medical Geography Specialty Group.

Organizers:
Jayajit Chakraborty, University of South Florida, jchakrab@usf.edu
Timothy Collins, University of Texas at El Paso, twcollins@utep.edu
Sara Grineski, University of Texas at El Paso, segrineski@utep.edu

Description: Environmental Justice (EJ) research seeks to document and address the disproportionate environmental health and risk burdens borne by racial/ethnic minorities and individuals of lower socioeconomic status. Although its initial focus was on environmental hazards and pollution, the scope of EJ research has now expanded to encompass everything that is unsustainable about the world, including rampant industrialization, resource depletion, energy use, consumption patterns, food systems, and inequitable public policies that adversely affect minority, indigenous, and low-income communities, other vulnerable groups such as immigrants and people with disabilities, and future generations. In a context of intensifying social and environmental inequalities, there is a growing need to further strengthen this research framework and continue diversifying its themes.

This paper session intends to provide a forum for conceptual, theoretical, methodological, and empirical scholarship on EJ. We welcome qualitative and quantitative case studies, reviews of the literature, critical evaluations of methods and tools, comparative analyses, and discussions of future research needs that focus on any aspect of EJ. Paper topics may include, but are not limited to, the following EJ issues:

•  technological hazards and risks, such as air pollution, hazardous waste, and        undesirable land uses;
•  natural disasters and hazards, such as hurricanes and floods;
•  adverse health outcomes, such as cancer and respiratory illnesses;
•  environmental amenities, such as parks, playgrounds, and street trees;
•  environmental laws, regulations, and policies;
•  access to affordable and nutritious food;
•  climate change; and
•  transportation systems and policies.

Abstracts of no more than 250 words should be submitted to any one of the session organizers by November 18, 2013. Accepted submissions will be contacted by November 26, 2013, and expected to register and submit their abstracts online at the AAG website by December 3, 2013.