The public is invited to a series of discussions on campus focusing on topics of "environmental justice" -- environmental issues as they pertain to race, class and gender. The series is produced by the Environmental Justice Project at UC Davis' John Muir Institute of the Environment (JMIE).

The May 8 event will feature three speakers on the topic "Partnerships for Environmental Justice: Fish Contamination in the Delta." They are:

• LaDonna Williams, People for Children’s Health and Environmental Justice;
• Laura Leonelli, Southeast Asian Assistance Center; and
• Fraser Shilling, UC Davis staff researcher and lead author of the California Watershed Assessment Manual.

The facilitator will be Jonathan London, a senior researcher in the Department of Human and Community Development.

This discussion will review how low-income and racial-minority communities run disproportionate risks from the consumption of contaminated fish from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. It will highlight "best practices" in community-based environmental justice research and explore key issues in environmental justice policy and advocacy affecting communities in the Central Valley.

There will be an opportunity at the end of the program to meet and talk with the speakers.

This event will take place on Tuesday, May 8, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. in 242 Asmundson Hall.

On Tuesday (May 1), a talk was given by Julie Sze, who is an assistant professor of American Studies and director of the Environmental Justice Project.

She discussed her new book, "Noxious New York," which explores how racial-minority and low-income communities often suffer disproportionate effects of urban environmental problems. In particular, it describes the culture, politics and history of environmental justice activism in New York City within the larger context of privatization, deregulation and globalization.