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2023 Summer Recap
During the 2023 summer, we held the inaugural CHARMED Summer Youth Environmental Justice (SY EJ) Scholars program with a cohort of four phenomenal students and activists from South Baltimore communities. Meet them below!
Taysia Thompson is a senior at Mergenthaler High School and a resident of the Curtis Bay and Cherry Hill communities. She is a founding member of Baltimore Broken Glass and aims to become an anesthesiologist or neurologist.
Carlos Sanchez-Gonzalez is a recent graduate from Benjamin Franklin High School and a resident of the Lakeland community. Carlos works with the South Baltimore Community Land Trust as a Youth Leadership and Outreach Specialist.
Vilma Gutierrez is a junior at Benjamin Franklin High School (BFHS) and a resident of the Brooklyn community. She participated in the BFHS/Towson University/JHU participatory action and citizen science environmental justice class in the Spring of 2023.
Raven Veillon is a recent graduate from Benjamin Franklin High School and a resident of the Morrell Park community. Raven would like to become a bestselling author and esteemed artist.
The scholars drove community science efforts to analyze dark dust accumulating on surfaces around the Curtis Bay neighborhood. Curtis Bay is a community in South Baltimore; it's home to friendly neighbors, community gardens, schools, but also a historical and present high concentration and abundance of polluting industrial sources. Benjamin Franklin High School–the alma mater or current school of three of the above scholars–is located in Curtis Bay.
Community science and public communication activities included:
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The collection and analysis of dark dust in the community using low-cost, accessible methods,
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Settled dust sampling for analysis via electron microscopy,
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Learning directly from South Baltimore residents about environmental injustices and concerns in their communities;
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Communication of findings to community leaders, local business owners, and Maryland policymakers in briefings
Click here to learn more about these amazing youth and their work during the summer in this national news coverage via NPR!
When not in the field or the lab, the scholars worked with community leaders to learn about the history of environmental injustice in the United States and in South Baltimore. For example, Dr. Lawrence T. Brown–the author of The Black Butterfly: The Harmful Politics of Race and Space in America–immersed the scholars in an innovative board game to understand redlining and unjust zoning practices in Baltimore.
If you'd like to learn more about the 2023 SY EJ Scholars and their summer experience, please reach out to Matty Aubourg at maubour1@jh.edu.
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