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Below are examples of of recent faculty-student research in environmental justice. Each project provides information on the motivation and objectives of the work, a listing of collaborators, and links for project deliverables and additional resources.
Daybreak wastescapes | Decolonizing as sustainability | Left in the dark | Volta photovoltaics
Daybreak wastescapes: solar frontiers between jugaad and ruin
This study investigates and traces the contours of the solar e-waste value chain and documents the social and environmental impacts of solar waste throughout Southern India.
Years active
2023 - present
Lead faculty research mentor
Dr. Ryan Stock
External Student Collaborator
Maitreyee Kulkarni
External Research Collaborators
Dr. Dustin Mulvaney, San Jose State University
Flavia Lopes, Earth Journalism Network
Decolonizing as Sustainability: Cultures of Colonialism, Circles, and Care
This project explores how indigenous dispossession and colonialism have contextualized our ideas of sustainability. By focusing on the importance of Indigenous energy sovereignty in climate change mitigation and adaptation, this research aims to focus on the ways in which notions of sustainability must be decolonized in ideology and practice.
Years active
2022
Lead faculty research mentor
Dr. Ryan Stock
Research sponsors
Freshman Fellows Program, Northern Michigan University
Student Collaborators
Joslin Brown (ENSS)
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Left in the dark: analysis of environmental injustices from solar photovoltaics in India
This research investigates the social and environmental injustices within the life cycle of solar panels in India, focusing on the benefits and burdens incurred by people working at various nodes of the solar value chain
Years active
2021 - 2024
Lead faculty research mentor
Dr. Ryan Stock
Research sponsors
Freshman Fellows Program, Northern Michigan University
Student Collaborators
Isabelle Honkomp (ENSS)
Mridul Ganguly
External Research Collaborators
Dr. Benjamin Sovacool, Professor, University of Boston, University of Sussex
Products
Honkomp, I. and Stock, R. 2022. Silica Mining Impact on Communities in India. Celebration of Student Scholarship Conference, Northern Michigan University, Marquette, Michigan.
Volta photovoltaics: A feminist political ecology of solar development in Ghana
This study investigated the influence of the Kaleo Lawra Solar Plant on gendered livelihoods of marginal and smallholder farmers of Kaleo and Lawra in Upper West, Ghana.
Years active
2021 - 2024
Lead faculty research mentor
Dr. Ryan Stock
Research sponsors
Freshman Fellows Program, Northern Michigan University
University of Denver
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana
Student Collaborators
Elizabeth Williams (ENSS)
External Student Collaborators
Felix Kpenekuu, Maitreyee Kulkarni, Enoch Yeleliere
External Research Collaborators
Dr. Hanson Nyantakyi-Frimpong, Associate Professor, University of Denver
Dr. Philip Antwi-Agyei, Professor, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology
Products
Williams, E. and Stock R. 2022. Gender and Social Dimensions of Solar Development in the Upper West region of Ghana. Celebration of Student Scholarship Conference, Northern MIchigan University, Marquette, Michigan.