EPA Announces Phase 2 Winners of the Environmental Justice Video Challenge for Students

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WASHINGTON (May 9, 2023) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and its co-sponsors, American Public Health Association, the Educational Partnerships for Innovation in Communities – Network (EPIC-N), Environmental Defense Fund, Environmental Justice journal, and Groundwork USA, announced the Phase 2 winners of the Environmental Justice (EJ) Video Challenge for Students. The winning teams, which consisted of college students and local community organizations, worked together to develop community capacity building strategies to address an environmental justice issue important to a local community.

“This challenge showcases how collaboration between the next generation of environmental justice advocates and community organizations can produce truly innovative ideas to address environmental and public health issues affecting communities,” said Chris Frey, Assistant Administrator of EPA’s Office of Research and Development. “We are encouraged by each team’s exceptional efforts and look forward to creating pathways for continued community capacity building that will help us to achieve our mission to protect human health and the environment.”

In Phase 1, college students created videos demonstrating innovative approaches to identify and characterize an environmental justice issue in a community using data and publicly available tools. In Phase 2, students worked collaboratively with local community organizations to develop a community capacity building strategy and an accompanying video that demonstrates effective community engagement and advocacy to address the environmental justice issue identified in Phase 1.

Phase 2 winners are listed below:

  • First Place ($60,000):Civic Bioremediation: Building a Network of Soil Practitioners – University of California, Irvine
    • Community Organization Partner ($50,000): Orange County Environmental Justice
    • Student Team Members ($10,000): Annika Hjelmstad, Ariane Jong-Levinger, Ashley Green, Alexis Guerra, Caroline Nguyen, David Christopher Banuelas, Tim Schütz
  • Second Place ($50,000):Making Eastwick Whole – University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University
    • Community Organization Partner ($42,000): Eastwick United Community Development Corporation
    • Student Team Members ($8,000): Aminah McNulty, Allison Nkwocha, Jackson Plumlee, Nina Valentine
  • Third Place ($40,000):Pollution to Prosperity: Tackling Landfill Impacts for a Thriving Future – University of Richmond
    • Community Organization Partner ($34,000): Concerned Citizens of Charles City County
    • Student Team Members ($6,000): Megan Salters, McKenna Dunbar, Sarah Murtaugh
  • Honorable Mention ($12,500):Addressing Environmental Issues Identified in Martinsville, IN – Purdue University
    • Community Organization Partner ($10,000): Martinsville Indiana Superfund Site Association (MISSA)
    • Student Team Members ($2,500): Alaina Bryant, Kaleigh Karageorge, Jung Hyun Lee, Shaquila Rolle, Seohyung Kim, Kayla Young
  • Honorable Mention ($12,500):DRIVERS4EJ – Western Washington University, University of Washington
    • Community Organization Partner ($10,000): Duwamish Valley Youth Corps
    • Student Team Members ($2,500): Drew Slaney, Jenny Meyer, Rudi Mondragon, Isebella Bergsma, Cianna Bergsma-Galarosa, Christopher Castro, AJ Cooper, Guadalupe Sanchez, Alexis Sorm, Randall Thall, Wala Abdin, Montana Siddle, Nicole Araya, Naythan Ramos, Issaiah Cummins

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