53-1 Centering the Community in Community-Based Participatory Research: Lessons on University Partnerships from Project CRESSLE in Central Texas

Session: Community Engaged Research for Environmental Sustainability and Community Resilience

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People Organized in Defense of Earth and her Resources (PODER) is an environmental justice organization that was formed in 1991 to increase the participation of historically low-income residents and residents of color in decisions related to the economic development and environmental protection of East Austin. Over the last three decades, we have seen the integral role that academic institutions play in shaping the policies and narratives that govern these decisions and thus regularly collaborate with researchers in fields like urban planning, engineering, and geological sciences. The longstanding dynamic between community-based organizations and academia has been complicated, however; research produced to capture the impact of environmental injustice on our communities often fails to materially benefit us and instead serves to bolster the portfolios of the academic institutions itself.

With regard to partnerships co-created by community-based organizations and academic researchers—in our case, geoscientists—the following question warrants a sustained interrogation: how can researchers address the historic issue of academic institutions unwittingly fostering extractive relationships with low-income communities and communities of color who are shaped by and experience environmental injustice?

PODER’s experiences as a co-principal investigator on Project CRESSLE—Community Resilience integrated into an Earth System Science Learning Ecosystem—at UT-Austin provide key learnings in developing a bi-directional scientific model centering communities working toward environmental justice and the transformation of academic institutions that have failed to help remedy environmental injustice (while reaping accolades from its study). Fundamentally, geoscientists whose research involves community engagement as a core component should prepare to learn from community-based organizations and community members about the connections they make among the natural environment, public health, and environmental justice. Material support that uplifts community-based organizations should then arrive in the form of technical assistance, financial support, and knowledge sharing.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Program. Vol. 57, No. 6, 2025

doi: 10.1130/abs/2025AM-10195

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