2010 is off to an excellent start. I am really excited about the progress that the Section is making in expanding its use of technology to communicate with Section membership. We recently created a yahoo listserv and updated our Facebook page, which should really help us stay better connected and informed on Section activities and environmental health issues and opportunities. The theme of the 2010 Annual Meeting is Social Justice: A Public Health Imperative. I must commend all members of the Section who have contributed to the development of a great program this year that connects environmental health issues to social justice including the Program Planning Committee and all members of the Section who either submitted or reviewed full session proposals and/or individual abstracts.
I have been inspired by the theme of the Annual Meeting and have adopted it as the focus of my efforts this year. I am currently working with Section members to develop special plenary session proposals that cover the theme of social justice including: 1) Climate Change and Social Justice: The Agenda of Federal Agencies to Address These Issues; 2) Develop A Research Agenda to Define, Study, and Address Environmental Health Disparities; 3) Dialogue on Haiti and the U.S. Gulf Coast: How National Organizations Can Collaborate to Rebuild and Protect Vulnerable and Under-served Communities to Achieve Social Justice, Improve Public Health, and Increase Resiliency; and 4) Green Jobs and Social Justice: What is the Role of Public Health? As part of this process, I am working to secure EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, who has made environmental justice a priority of her administration as a speaker for the climate change and social justice plenary session and as our Calver Award recipient. In addition, I have begun a conversation with NEHA, NOMA, PBCD of the APA, and URISA about building a multi-group collaboration that will assist with long-term rebuilding efforts in Haiti and other parts of the Caribbean and areas in the United States vulnerable to nature hazards and burdened by social and infrastructure disparities.
Another one of my priorities for the year is fundraising. I was unable to successfully submit a CDC conference grant proposal but am on schedule to submit a conference grant proposal to NIH and will be submitting letters of intent to several foundations that are interested in funding our conference activities that focus on building capacity in communities impacted by environmental justice and public health issues, discussion of community-university partnerships to address environmental public health issues, and best practices. If successful, these resources will be used to assist community members who will be presenting at the Annual Meeting with their travel, helping to get more students to the meeting particularly students from underrepresented groups, and covering the costs of our Calver lecture, section social, and a proposed environmental health town hall meeting.
Finally, I am also really excited by the work of the Policy Committee and other Section committees that are developing new environmental health policy with a focus on social justice. We will be submitting an environmental justice and health disparities position paper to APHA for the 2010 policy review process. There are plans to develop policy statements on one or more of the following: climate change and social justice, water and social justice, green jobs and social justice, agriculture and social justice, and TSCA reform and social justice.
If you are interested in learning more about my goals and objectives for 2010, please contact me at wilsons2@mailbox.sc.edu. Also, go to the Web site if you are interested in working on one of the Section’s excellent committees. Please remember that your contribution as a volunteer helps the Environment Section grow and be successful at improving environmental public health. Thanks for your current and future contributions.
Take care,
Dr. Sacoby Wilson, Section Chair