Tennessee State University Professor David Padgett uses geographic information system (GIS) technology to give students meaningful exposure to career opportunities in environmental sciences.<\/p>\r\n
Key Takeaways<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n In the early 1990s, environmental justice advocates across the US struggled to prove that marginalized communities faced disproportionate exposure to pollution and other environmental hazards. Without hard evidence, their concerns were often dismissed.<\/p>\r\n \u201cEnvironmental justice was not seen as anything but the anecdotal ramblings of communities,\u201d said Beverly Wright, the award-winning founder and executive director of the\u00a0Deep South Center for Environmental Justice<\/a>\u00a0in New Orleans.<\/p>\r\n That changed when Professor David Padgett began supporting advocates by providing mapping and analysis with geographic information system (GIS) technology.<\/p>\r\n Through his decades-long collaboration with Wright and Robert D. Bullard\u2014known as the father of environmental justice\u2014Padgett established a model that transformed community experiences into scientific data that clearly shows impacts.<\/p>\r\n Padgett trained community advocates to create their own maps using GIS. These visual tools revealed how landfills, factories, and other polluting facilities were clustered near neighborhoods and communities of color that had higher rates of poverty. The maps documented environmental burdens including poor air quality, contaminated water, excessive flooding, and related health disparities.<\/p>"},{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","layout":"standard","image_reference":null,"image_reference_figure":"","spotlight_image":null,"section_title":"","spotlight_name":"","position":"Right","content":" GIS education and training gave community leaders the tools they needed to document compounded environmental burdens.<\/p>\r\n Armed with this data, community leaders could finally push government agencies to act.<\/p>\r\n \u201cBeing able to have access to experts like Professor Padgett, we could use GIS in many more ways than we ever conceived,\u201d Wright said. \u201cWe could train communities to map their own problems. And all that led to the real, hard research that was needed to get government to begin protecting our communities.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n Padgett\u2019s journey into GIS began unexpectedly. As a geography major at Western Kentucky University in the 1980s, his faculty adviser encouraged him to enroll in the school\u2019s new GIS course\u2013one of the first in the nation. Though Padgett dreamed of competing in Olympic track and field, he signed up.<\/p>\r\n That decision, combined with his high school studies in environmental science, launched an unexpected and pioneering career. His first job as a physical scientist at the US Bureau of Land Management put his skills to immediate use.<\/p>\r\n \u201cI didn't have to be trained,\u201d Padgett said. \u201cI already knew how to operate the software, which really jump-started my career. I was able to do a lot more a lot faster.\u201d<\/p>\r\n While the bureau hesitated to adopt digital mapping in the 1980s, Padgett demonstrated how GIS improved efficiency and spatial analysis. He pursued advanced degrees in geography and founded the environmental consulting firm GEO-Mental in 1992, where he serves as chief consultant. Community organizations contract with him when they need data to support their work.<\/p>"},{"acf_fc_layout":"gallery","gallery_images":[751282,751272,751202]},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":" Padgett\u2019s academic career led him to Tennessee State University, a historically Black college in Nashville. For 25 years, he has directed the Geographic Information Sciences Laboratory he founded there, while serving as associate professor of geography. His work earned him the American Association of Geographers Presidential Achievement Award in 2019, as well as numerous other awards (see sidebar).<\/p>\r\n Reading Bullard\u2019s books on environmental justice inspired Padgett to expand his impact. He \u00a0began attending events where Bullard and Wright were organizers or presenters, determined to connect his GIS expertise with community advocacy.<\/p>\r\n \u201cHe almost forced us to see him very quietly,\u201d Wright said. \u201cEverywhere you go, you see this face.\u201d<\/p>\r\n Padgett\u2019s timing was ideal. In 1994, President Bill Clinton signed Executive Order 12898<\/a>, requiring federal agencies to address environmental justice in their policies. Communities could get federal backing to compile evidence to support their advocacy, using GIS to carry out the work.<\/p>"},{"acf_fc_layout":"quote","image":751292,"text":"A lot of young people want to make a difference, but they really don't know how. If you want to do something for your community, we need people who know about engineering, architectural engineering, civil engineering, and technology.","author_name":"Tennessee State University","author_profession_organization":"Professor David Padgett"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":" Bullard, a professor of urban planning and environmental policy at Texas Southern University and founding director of its Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice, was eager to mentor young professors in environmental justice. He quickly recognized the value of Padgett's skills.<\/p>\r\n \u201cI\u2019m a sociologist,\u201d Bullard said. \u201cSociologists and geographers and folks who do GIS, it\u2019s a marriage made in heaven. Geographers work with data, they work with maps, and they are able to visually show in a picture what a sociologist would take a thousand words to write.\u201d<\/p>\r\n The partnership flourished. Padgett worked with Bullard and Wright as they built the Gulf Coast Equity Consortium<\/a>, which provides faculty mentors from historically Black colleges and universities (HBCU) and technical support to community-based organizations addressing environmental concerns. Bullard later appointed Padgett to lead the HBCU Environmental Justice Technical Collaborative (HEJTC), empowering stakeholders through mapping and spatial analysis.<\/p>\r\n \u201cHe's an excellent communicator and teacher,\u201d Bullard said. \u201cHe is high-energy, and he's very good at connecting the dots. He can do a lot of things at the same time, multitask\u2014projects dealing with small communities or mapping something that\u2019s on a larger scale.\u201d<\/p>\r\n Padgett\u2019s training transformed how communities document environmental injustices. He taught advocates to map neighborhood boundaries and use census data to reveal disparities, track the flow of contaminated water from industrial sites, document air quality with sensors, and predict flooding patterns as storms intensify.<\/p>\r\n The results were dramatic. \u201cWhen we first began bringing David and GIS into the mix, the long-range goals were met in the short term,\u201d Wright said. \u201cMy first case working with communities took 15 years. We\u2019ve worked on very difficult cases (with Padgett), and we\u2019ve done it in two and three years. We\u2019ve had the science to back up the work that we were doing.\u201d<\/p>"},{"acf_fc_layout":"gallery","gallery_images":[751212,751222,751192]},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":" Digital Mapping and Spatial Analysis in the Executive Office<\/strong><\/p>\r\n When federal policy prioritized resilience for national security, it designated digital mapping and spatial analysis as the preferred tool for identifying vulnerable communities. In response, Padgett\u2019s HEJTC developed the HBCU Climate and Environmental Justice Screening Tool (HCEJST).<\/p>\r\n The tool creates comprehensive profiles of at-risk communities by mapping multiple vulnerability factors: fewer parks, poor air quality, proximity to landfills, higher poverty rates, and elevated health risks. It also traces the historical roots\u2014redlining, housing discrimination, and decades of disinvestment\u2014that created these disparities.<\/p>\r\n In 2024, the HEJTC contracted with the US Environmental Protection Agency to provide technical assistance to\u00a0Community Change Grant Program<\/a>\u00a0applicants. Now, with potential deregulation threatening environmental protections, this work has become even more critical.<\/p>\r\n \u201cThe long years of work and the acceptance of environmental justice communities, that only exists because of GIS,\u201d Wright said. \u201cIn other words, being able to collect the data that show, yes, there are people who are disproportionately exposed. That was done with GIS maps.\u201d<\/p>"},{"acf_fc_layout":"gallery","gallery_images":[751252,751242]},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":" Black Americans remain especially underrepresented in earth sciences, and environmental justice still relies on relatively few advocates\u2014a gap Padgett is determined to close.<\/p>\r\n Following Bullard\u2019s example, Padgett has introduced hundreds of students to mapping and spatial analysis with GIS through his classroom, internships, and lab opportunities. Many have landed positions at prestigious organizations, with GIS giving them a competitive edge.<\/p>\r\n\r\n \t
Recognizing A Life of Purpose: David Padgett<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n
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The Evolution of Big Data in Environmental Science <\/strong><\/h3>\r\n
Identifying the Next Generation of Teachers and Activists<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n