Our world is defined by systems– economic, social, political. Understanding these systems is a key part to better understand our world. I worked as part of a project evaluating the social vulnerability of sites within Milwaukee, WI, and Gary, IN. As areas became ‘cleaner’ through environmental clean-up programs, were people displaced?
Our work was innovative by evaluating how social vulnerability shifted and changed over time in relation to the clean-up of EPA sites. The project was mixed-methods involving both data analysis and interviews. I lead the development of our social vulnerability index and geospatial modeling. Our paper was published in Plos and I presented this work at the Urban Affairs Association in 2015.