Sacoby Wilson receives APHA Dahu Smith Environmental Achievement Award
On November 2, 2015, Faculty Associate Sacoby Wilson received the Dahu Smith Environmental Achievement Award from the American Public Health Association (APHA) at their annual meeting in Chicago, Illinois. The award is given to individuals who display commendable leadership in advocating environmental and social justice. "Dr. Wilson embodies this leadership through his work on exposure science, monitoring air-pollution, and the impact of the environment on health outcomes," said an announcement from the School of Public Health at the University of Maryland. A large part of Dr. Wilson's work is based on community-based participatory research (CBPR), wherein he has worked extensively with disadvantaged communities in North and South Carolina, Delaware, Washington DC, and Maryland, to conduct research and build advocacy against environmental threats.
Dr. Wilson explains his views on science and receiving the award with the following statement: "Growing up near a sewage treatment plant, a concrete plant, an oil storage facility, and a nuclear power plant naturally piqued my interest in environmental justice issues. I believe that science can be a powerful tool that can ‘inpower’ impacted citizens to use data with community organizing and civic engagement to address social ills. I can’t bring power to overburdened communities, but I can help them connect to the power that they already have, reconnect them to a spirit of collective action. I am honored to receive the Damu Smith award because he was an advocate, activist, and icon of the environmental justice movement.”