A community-based feminist approach to examining exposure and assessing community health: Addressing environmental health concerns of community residents of Kettleman City, CA Professor Clare Cannon, Department of Human Ecology UC Davis --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This research seeks to apply feminist theories and methods to investigate key linkages between environmental exposure and human health in a disadvantaged, rural community utilizing an innovative participatory process and mixed-method experimental design. The purpose of this study is to ascertain environmental exposure of the community of Kettleman City, CA relative to California’s; establish feasibility for a larger study; and to produce a feminist model for community engaged science that informs environmental policy and regulation. Guided by theories of intersectionality and working with community partners, we aim to conduct an environmental health survey and in-depth interviews with Kettleman City residents to identify important relationships among intersectional axes of oppression, space, health outcomes, and environmental risks. Environmental monitoring (i.e., ambient air and water samples) and biological monitoring (i.e., blood) will be conducted with select residents (N=10) to test for chemicals of concern to the community such as mercury, arsenic, chlorpyrifos, benzene, diesel particles, and PCBs. An interdisciplinary team from across UC Davis have agreed to analyze environmental and biological samples. Findings will be shared with the community and with national audiences through peer reviewed journals (e.g. Environmental Health Perspectives) and national conferences. “As Assistant Professor in the Department of Human Ecology at the University of California, Davis, I am excited to continue my research into social inequality and health disparities, with an emphasis on feminist theories and methods. My research areas include socio-environmental inequality, global and urban sustainability, environmental health, climate change and natural hazards, and gender and society. I have two main research lines: 1) investigating environmental inequality and health; and, 2) analyzing policies and interventions to treat personal-based violence. My research continues to evolve in studying social vulnerability due to climate change related disasters and socio-environmental health in environmental justice communities. I received my doctorate from the interdisciplinary City, Culture + Community program at Tulane University. I received a B.A. in American Studies with a minor in Gender and Women’s Studies from Scripps College of the Claremont Colleges Consortium. I received a M.A. in Social Ethics and Depth Psychology and Religion from Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University in New York City.”