Faculty Address Real Life Challenges ASSESSING RACIAL DISPARITIES IN AMERICA’S PET AND ANIMAL WELFARE ORGANIZATIONS Professor Stan Bowie received grant funding for research that assesses racial disparities in America’s pet and animal welfare organizations. The study explores whether racial disparities exist within animal welfare organizations in four communities in Arizona, North Carolina, Texas, and Tennessee, and includes a mixed-method approach using a structural racism framework to explore how animal control practices and pet adoption practices may be impacting some communities differently than others. The focus on individual, organizational, and community level data will provide a comprehensive view of animal welfare practices in these communities, and will determine what differences exist in how different racial and ethnic groups within a community are impacted by policies and procedures of animal control agencies and animal welfare organizations and how pet adoptions procedures and practices could be impacting different racial and ethnic groups within a community.
The overarching goal of the study is to generate a systematic approach to identify racial disparities in the animal welfare community that can be replicated in other communities. The current existing literature on racial disparities in animal welfare is fundamentally based on observations, theoretical conjecture, and anecdotal reports and is limited. The study is funded by Companions and Animals for Reform and Equity (CARE). Dr. Bowie is the Principal Investigator and Linda Daugherty is the Project Director.
UNCOVERING INEQUALITIES IN INDOOR POLLUTION Associate Professor Courtney Cronley, along with UT Civil and Environmental Engineering Professors Qiang He and Shuai Li, received a seed grant from the Institute for Secure and Sustainable Environment to better understand the indoor human exposome, which is the measure of all the exposures of an individual in a lifetime and how those exposures relate to health. The new research hopes to uncover disparities in indoor pollution. Given a choice between inhaling the scent of roasted meat and vegetables or breathing smog from a large industrial area, most people would choose the former. However, the simple act of roasting food indoors, especially with gas burners, can create indoor pollution worse than what is measured in many large cities. Unlike outdoor pollution, indoor pollution is not regulated, but it can greatly exacerbate health conditions and decrease life expectancy. In the case of cooking, the culprit is PM2.5, or particulate matter that is 2.5 micrometers in size. These microscopic particles of soot, dust, oil, and whatever toxins they might be carrying do not just enter the lungs, they can also pass into the bloodstream due to their small size. Just as the COVID-19 pandemic exposed health
disparities among race and class lines, exposure to pollutants such as PM2.5 indoors and outdoors is linked with environmental inequality. By creating a personalized device that can be worn throughout the day, the team hopes to continuously track pollutant exposure. Since humans spend up to 90 percent of their time indoors, it is worthwhile to study the exposome. Many linkages exist between environmental exposure and socio-economic determinants, and the team hopes that any research identifying disparities in the indoor exposome be used to develop strategies to reduce environmental inequity and improve public health.
NEW FACULTY HIRES IN 2021 • Allison Diehl, Coordinator of Field Education, Nashville; MSSW Program and Assistant Professor of Practice
• Tami Walker, Coordinator of Field Education, Online MSSW Program and Assistant Professor of Practice
NEW STAFF HIRES IN 2021 • Javonda Williams Moss, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor
• Hannah Collins, Administrative Specialist I, Knoxville Campus
• Margaret Huffstetler, Advisor, Online MSSW Program
• Grace Martinez, Administrative Specialist
