Their
work
starts
at
the
ground
level,
literally
…
as
they
traverse
through
vacant
lots,
community
gardens,
playgrounds
and
homeowner
yards
with
hefty
backpacks
filled
with
trowels,
plastic
bags,
meters
and
other
equipment.
They've
logged
in
hundreds
of
miles
on
their
cars
and
gathered
soil
samples
from
east
to
west
across
Greater
Cleveland.
Research
is
at
the
center
of
their
project.
But
for
BW
students
Rowan
Rindfleisch
Huntley
'24
and
Emmalee
Keep
'22,
advocacy
is
the
passion
that
makes
the
countless
hours,
travels
and
calculations
they've
done
personally
and
professionally
fulfilling.
Together
with
research
lead
and
BW
environmental
science
assistant
professor
Dr.
Annette
Trierweiler,
the
two
students
are
tackling
the
environmental
justice
issue
of
redlining
and
its
effects
on
communities
and
individuals.
Documenting
Environmental
Disparities
"Urban
ecosystems
and
how
they
function
and
can
become
degraded
is
of
interest
to
me,"
explained
Trierweiler.
"Our
research
aligns
with
a
larger
national
effort
to
examine
the
impacts
of
redlining
on
urban
soils.
"Redlining
is
a
discriminatory
housing
practice
from
the
past,"
noted
Trierweiler.
"It
often
resulted
in
a
denial
of
services
and
lack
of
investments
in
neighborhoods
of
minority
and
immigrant
communities.
The
documentation
of
these
disparities
has
largely
been
social,
economic
and
political,
but
rarely
environmental."
She
went
on
to
say
that
with
the
permission
of
home
and
property
owners,
they
collected
a
small
sample
of
soil
from
each
site.
The
soil
was
then
tested
and
analyzed
for
lead
and
other
carbon
and
chemical
properties.
Their
sampling
sites
included
Cleveland
neighborhoods
-
Cark-Fulton,
Collinwood,
Detroit-Shoreway,
Edgewater,
Lee-Miles
and
Kamm's
Corners
-
as
well
as
surrounding
suburbs
like
Berea,
Bedford,
Parma,
Shaker
Heights
and
Euclid.
"In
our
study,
we
wanted
to
address
several
factors,"
said
Trierweiler.
"For
example,
kids
are
more
prone
to
lead
toxicity.
Therefore,
taking
samples
from
playgrounds
and
other
areas
where
children
congregate
was
important
for
understanding
potential
contamination
exposure.
Likewise,
community
and
homeowner
gardens
provided
insight
into
food
safety
to
assess
if
soil
was
safe
for
growing
food
or
if
fresh
soil
was
needed
to
bring
it
to
EPA
(Environmental
Protection
Agency)
levels
of
safety.
"Collecting
and
analyzing
this
data
provides
a
lens
through
which
we
can
measure
how
neighborhoods
where
there
is
historical
documentation
of
redlining
practices
were
affected.
Beyond
the
research
findings
we
uncover,
there
is
a
greater
consideration
of
environmental
justice
and
giving
home
and
property
owners
advice
to
improve
safety,"
she
went
on
to
say.
Amplifying
Unheard
Voices
"Translating
science
into
something
that
can
have
an
important
community
impact
is
very
important
to
students
like
Rowan
and
Emmalee,
who
want
to
make
a
difference
in
social
justice
and
activism,"
emphasized
Trierweiler.
For
environmental
science
majors
Keep
and
Rindfleisch
Huntley,
the
project
enabled
them
to
delve
into
areas
of
interest
within
the
scope
of
the
research
study.
Keep
wanted
to
investigate
the
correlation
between
food
insecurity
and
soil
health.
Rindfleisch
Huntley
wanted
to
provide
valuable
information
to
community
organizations
about
potential
lead
contamination.
"Although
redlining
was
almost
100
years
ago,
what
we
are
seeing
now
is
that
these
communities,
which
were
deemed
unsafe
to
loans
and
investments,
are
still
seeing
countless
negative
effects
of
redlining,"
asserted
Keep.
"My
biggest
goal
in
whatever
I
do
as
a
career
is
to
focus
on
the
power
of
community
and
to
amplify
unheard
voices.
I
can
share
my
scientific
knowledge,
but
what
I
ultimately
want
is
for
the
people
within
their
communities
to
have
the
power
to
change
the
injustices
they
face,"
emphasized
Keep,
who
grew
up
in
Medina,
Ohio.
Rindfleisch
Huntley
shares
a
similar
vision.
The
North
Olmsted,
Ohio,
resident
is
excited
to
be
working
in
an
urban
environment
and
providing
resources
at
no
cost
to
the
organizations
and
homeowners.
"Lead
in
soil
can
be
dangerous
to
children,
animals
and
adults.
It
can
also
create
food
deserts
or
areas
where
growing
crops
is
impossible
or
lead
levels
are
above
safe
levels
to
eat.
Our
research
is
more
than
just
data
-
it
is
about
looking
at
cycles
of
poverty
that
were
brought
on
by
generations
of
people's
inability
to
improve
their
living
conditions
and
take
safety
measures
such
as
removing
lead
paint,"
remarked
Rindfleisch
Huntley.
"It
has
been
amazing
to
work
so
closely
with
the
communities
we
are
serving,"
continued
Rindfleisch
Huntley.
"I
love
working
with
nonprofit
organizations
and
hope
to
incorporate
research
and
community
outreach.
My
dream
career
would
be
to
examine
the
consequences
of
environmental
change
in
urban
areas.
But
for
now,
I
can't
wait
to
see
the
impacts
this
study
can
have
for
the
betterment
of
our
neighborhoods
and
the
individuals
who
call
it
home."
