Welcome to the Environmental Fridays News Blog

Environmental Fridays – Mentoring our Environmental Future by desmond Hartwell Murray

Tue, 16 Sep 2025 18:51:31 GMT

"We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children." – Native American proverb.

Environmental Fridays ( https://www.theenvironmentalfridays.com/ ) is entering its ninth (Fall 2025) and tenth (Spring 2026) seasons as the new school year begins. It is Zoom-based environmental education innovation held each Friday at 9:30am (EST) during the school year. While the scope and reach of Environmental Fridays is global, national, regional, and global, local, our tagline is “ Environmental Fridays … it is personal .”

Environmental Fridays seeks to bring awareness and action, education and engagement. This is the driving ethos of Environmental Fridays, little by little, sometimes imperceptible, we believe that awareness will trigger individual action and community engagement. We need to see earth anew, our blue planet, our only home, as we first saw it on Christmas Eve 1968. It was the camera shot seen around the world, the photograph that has a name, Earthrise . This new view and iconic shot taken by Apollo 8 astronaut William Anders launched the largest environmental movement in history, leading to, among other things, the creation of Earth Day ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Day ). Find, read and learn more about Earthrise, its meaning and significance at https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230511-earthrise-the-photo-that-sparked-an-environmental-movement .

Season IX will begin on Friday, September 12, 2025, at 9:30am EST. There are 15 episodes lined up each Friday from September 2025 to December 2025. Details and updates will be posted at our Environmental Fridays website ( https://www.theenvironmentalfridays.com/ ) and in our Facebook group ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/environmentalfridays ). Our first episode presentation will be by Dr. Pudupakkam K. Vedanthan (PVK), founder of the International Asthma Services organization, from the University of Arizona, Denver. We will also introduce Caribbean Compass ( https://caribbeancompass.com/ ) as a new partner and collaborator with Environmental Fridays.

General topics in Season IX include asthma and allergies, environmental justice, carbon emissions, climate change, invasive species, sea turtles, nature-based schooling, bioplastics, indigenous environmental knowledge, citizen science, youth engagement, teenage environmentalist, biodiversity, environmental health, Guyana’s sustainable development, New York City’s sustainability, Sri Lanka, plastic pollution, and perspectives regarding the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) to be held in Belém, Brazil, from November 10 – 21, 2025.

Season IX guest speakers come from a variety of backgrounds, expertise and experiences across the United States, Caribbean, and elsewhere. For example, they come from Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Mississippi, New York, Pennsylvania, Trinidad, and Washington. They represent small businesses, elementary schools, high schools, universities, museums, news media, and nonprofit organizations. They are students, professors, poets, journalists, and environmental professionals. In addition, this upcoming Season IX has already seen an increasing interest in Environmental Fridays with over 24 persons requesting to participate as episode co-hosts. So far, 10 of this season’s 15 episodes has two scheduled co-hosts. They too come from all walks of life but are all interested in the environment and our role in it. Photos and bios of Season IX guest speakers and co-hosts will be posted shortly for easy public access and viewing at https://www.theenvironmentalfridays.com/environmental-fridays-schedule-and-speakers-bio .

An important goal of Environmental Fridays is to inspire, engage, and mentor high school students, college students, youth, and the public in critical and socially responsible thinking about environmental, scientific, technological, sustainability and justice questions that intersects with public health, medicine, energy, urbanization, climate crisis, biodiversity, and air, water, and soil pollution. We hope that these talks would inspire students to have future careers in these areas and motivate everyone to environmental action, engagement, and collaboration.

Each week notifications would be sent out broadly across multiple media platforms, including in the Benton Spirit ( http://bentonspiritnews.com/ ) to provide more specific and detailed information of the upcoming lecture, guest speaker, co-hosts, and the Zoom link. All are welcomed to attend and participate in these public science episodes either live on Zoom or via video-on-demand on YouTube. All previous episodes can be accessed, viewed and used for free by searching for ‘Environmental Fridays Combined’ at YouTube.

More information and details can be found at our Environmental Fridays website. Everyone is encouraged to join and actively participate in our Environmental Fridays Facebook group. If you want to participate in Environmental Fridays as a student, teacher, guest speaker, co-host, an environmental group, club, or organization, community member, co-sponsor, media, or have any questions, please contact Dr. desmond Hartwell Murray, Founding Director of Environmental Fridays, Inc. at murrayd@environmentalfridays.com or environmentalfridays@gmail.com .

Tax-exempt donations are encouraged to maintain the mission and work of Environmental Fridays.

Season IV Environmental Fridays Public Science Announcements (EF PSA) Video Contest Guidelines

Fri, 13 Jan 2023 13:45:01 GMT

Description

This contest is open to all Michigan high school and college students. It is co-sponsored by Building Excellence in Science and Technology (BEST Early) and the Benton Spirit Community Newspaper in collaboration with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy’s Office of the Environmental Justice Public Advocate, and Honor Credit Union. It requires that participating students create a two-minute public science announcement (PSA) video on an environmentally related topic. It should be persuasive; science-based; and of interest, importance, and relevance to the public. Entries can be submitted by individual students or teams of students. Entries will be judged in two categories: high school and college. The top three videos in each category will be awarded $250 , $150 , and $100 at the end of Season IV. Feature stories related to this contest will be covered and published in the Benton Spirit Community Newspaper.

Instructions

1. Complete and submit the application form by March 24, 2023 , for Season IV.

2. Videos must be submitted by April 21, 2023 , for Season IV. Submit to murrayd@andrews.edu via WeTransfer . The top 10 videos will be announced and shown on May 5, 2023 (Season IV).

3. Each participant must write and submit a 350 - 400-word description (essay) on the subject and purpose of their PSA as an attachment to their completed application form. A separate page of accurate references and sources must be included with your description. Essays must be typed and submitted electronically as a pdf file attachment with the application form. They must be formatted in Times New Roman font, size 12, single-spaced, justified, with one-inch margins.

4. At the end of your essay, in a separate paragraph write two ‐ three sentences that include your name, high school or college, hobbies, and college and career plans. Also, separately attach a high-res jpeg photo of yourself; do not embed it in a word file.

5. Do you. Be original. Have fun, be creative. Your submissions: video, and essay, must be your own work. Reference and acknowledge all resources and personnel used. Your video should have a credits slide.

6. Make sure your submissions are persuasive, interesting, and informational for the public. While it must (i) have high science content and (ii) be scientifically correct, do not try to overly impress with ‘big’ technical words. Seek to be understood.

7. Videos will be judged by these categories: science content and accuracy ( 13 points), persuasiveness ( 12 points), critical thinking ( 10 points), originality and creativity ( 5 points), video length (2 mins +/- 10 secs) ( 5 points), and organization, flow, clarity ( 5 points).

Video Tips & Guidelines

a. Create a 2-minute video on your PSA topic. Use mpeg or mov format . Submit to murrayd@andrews.edu via WeTransfer .

b. Use Guideline 7 to see how your video would be evaluated.

c. Use whatever video ‘equipment’ that is available to you: cellphone, ipad, video camera or camcorder. Use any resources, including people, to help with your video. There are online sites that gives tips and guidelines for making videos …. search them out.

d. Write out a storyline and outline for your video. It may change over time but always have a written plan/plot.

e. Think about and plan what you are going to say and do for each clip ahead of time. Minimize pauses, ‘umms’ and ‘errs.’

f. You can use background music or other legal footage to help create ambience and flow to your video.

g. Tripod shots, as much as possible, or set camera on something so it won't move and you aren't always hand holding it.

h. Edit your video! Don't just put up a whole clip of yourself talking with no cuts. Edit to make the video's pace work better.

i. Have fun, be creative. You can view previous PSA videos on You Tube at 2019PSA and 2020PSA .

Download the Environmental Fridays Public Science Announcement ( EF PSA ) Application Form Season IV
Deadline : Friday , March 24, 2023

Environmental Fridays Elevates into Season IV by Princella Tobias

Sun, 08 Jan 2023 23:18:48 GMT

E nvironmental Fridays Elevates into Season IV by Princella Tobias, Founding Publisher, Benton Spirit Community Newspaper.

Happy New Year. All the best for 2023. We enter this New Year and a new season of Environmental Fridays
( https://www.theenvironmentalfridays.com /) with great anticipation. We do so in the aftermath of COP27, the United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Egypt for two weeks last November. As Environmental Fridays Season IV begins on Friday, January 13, 2023, two other important environmental dates to remember in January includes the International Environmental Education Day on January 26 and the International Reducing CO2 Emissions Day on January 28.

Topics in Environmental Fridays Season IV range from challenges and opportunities facing small island nations, the environmental benefits of cultivated meat biotechnology, the environmental poetry of African Americans, natural resources and environmental conservation in Tobago, the environmental impact of the fashion industry, finding environmental solutions through biomimicry, environmental health in rural communities, the connections between breast cancer and personal care products, and environmental clean-ups in indigenous communities.

Once again, our guest speakers come from a variety of backgrounds, expertise, and experiences. They come from Barbados, United Kingdom, Grenada, New Jersey, Tobago, Illinois, Michigan, Massachusetts, Trinidad, Arizona, Ohio, Georgia, and New Mexico. They represent governmental, nongovernmental, business, educational and volunteer organizations.

Ms. Stacey de la Campa, Community Manager and Ambassador Program Coordinator at Island Innovation ( https://islandinnovation.co/team/stacey-alvarez-de-la-campa/ ) will be our inaugural guest speaker for Season IV. She will cover the Environmental Challenges and Sustainability Opportunities of Small Island Nations in her talk. Her January 13, 2023, presentation is the first of sixteen episodes that meets via Zoom (Meeting ID: 840 7511 3359) every Friday at 9:30am EST until the April 28th episode from the A 4 Asthma team ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/a4asthma ).

An important goal of Environmental Fridays is to engage and mentor our next generation about environmental challenges and concerns that we face around the world, from local to global. Each week, notifications would be sent out broadly across multiple media platforms, including in the Benton Spirit ( http://bentonspiritnews.com/ ) to provide more specific and detailed information of the upcoming lecture, guest speaker and the Zoom link. All are welcomed to attend and participate in these public science episodes either live on Zoom or via video-on-demand on YouTube. Everyone is welcomed and encouraged to join our online Environmental Fridays Facebook group at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/environmentalfridays . If you want to participate in Environmental Fridays as a student, teacher, potential guest speaker, co-host, community member, partner, co- sponsor, or have any questions, please contact Dr. Desmond Hartwell Murray, Founding Director of Environmental Fridays, Inc. at environmentalfridays@gmail.com .

EF 10 Cover, Friday, November 19, 2021

Fri, 19 Nov 2021 16:27:13 GMT

Thank you to Grand Valley State University Professor of Geology Dr. Peter Wampler . His lecture on Safe and Sustainable Water for Haiti can be viewed here on YouTube. To learn more about Professor Wampler's work in Haiti visit and view the following: http://www.gvsu.edu/haitiwater . Also, a paper by Professor Wampler on Evaluation of Hand–Dug Wells in Rural Haiti can be seen here .

Wampler is a broadly trained environmental geologist, geomorphologist, and surface water hydrologist with a background in both academic and government regulation of mining and storm water. He received a PhD in 2004 for work on human- and climatic-induced changes along the Clackamas River in Oregon. Since arriving at Grand Valley State University in 2004 he has worked with undergraduate and graduate students on applied geoscience research: 1) evaluating GVSU’s storm water runoff footprint and assisting in designing Best Management Practices for GVSU, 2) investigating water resources, water treatment, and groundwater contamination pathways in rural Haiti, 3) evaluating human impacts to river systems resulting from dams and other structures, and 4) Using Geographic Information Systems to create household radon hazard maps for Michigan using geologic data.

Thank you also to our co-host this week, Ms. Alyssa Newsome. She is a junior at the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science (MSMS) from McAdams, Mississippi. MSMS is a public residential high school for academically gifted and talented students, and it is a member of the National Consortium for Secondary STEM Schools (NCSSS). She is a member of Wags and Whiskers, FCS and Test Prep Club. She enjoys English and Biology and after graduation, she hopes to major in zoology or microbiology and become a large animal veterinarian.

EF 9 Cover, Friday, November 12, 2021

Fri, 12 Nov 2021 16:24:32 GMT

Thank you Dr. Joy Banner , co-Founder of The Descendants Project and Director of Communications for The Whitney Plantation. Her lecture was on the History of Environmental Racism and can be viewed on YouTube here . She shared her living testimony and personal history about environmental racism. We are glad that Environmental Fridays was an instrument and a platform to highlight the unforgivable disrespect and danger that money, power and greed shows to both ancestors and descendants. We invite you to visit and support The Whitney Plantation and The Descendants Project .

Thank you also to our co-host this week, the amazing Regina Ruth Strong , the state of Michigan's first Environmental Justice Public Advocate. She briefly recalled how moving it was when she visited The Whitney Plantation some years ago. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Michigan State University, as well as a Master of Science degree from Purdue University. Regina earned her Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) from the Public Relations Society of America and is also a Senior Fellow in the Great Lakes Region for the Environmental Leadership Program (ELP).

EF 8 Cover, Friday, November 5, 2021

Fri, 05 Nov 2021 16:22:09 GMT

Thank you to CEO Eustacia Marie Jennings , Principal Consultant of JESS (Jennings Environmental, Safety and Security) Consultants and a seasoned Environmental, Health & Safety Professional. Her lecture on Environmental and Safety Management Systems can be viewed here on YouTube. Thanks to Ms. Nadia Rodriguez and the students at her alma mater, we crossed 50 Zoom attendees, our largest Environmental Fridays audience to date.

Jennings completed 12 years at Bahamas Academy where she graduated Valedictorian. She went on to complete an AA degree in Chemistry and Mathematics at the College of the Bahamas graduating with the Governor General’s Award. She completed her Bachelor's Degree in Chemistry and Environment Studies at McGill University and a Master's Degree in Environmental Management at University of Houston - Clear Lake. She is All But Dissertation for her PhD in Environmental Science at University of North Texas and hopes one day to complete it. She has several Safety and Environmental Certifications.

In addition, Jennings has over 20 years in Environmental experience and 10 plus years in Safety spanning numerous industries including the Power, Maritime, Aviation, Oil and Gas, Manufacturing, Food and Beverage, Entertainment and Tourism Industries. She now spends her time with clients developing Environmental and Safety Management Systems (ESMS) for companies including COVID19 risk management. The core values of JESS are integrity, authenticity, discipline, and creativity which reflect her personal values. The Plan, Do, Check, Act approach to Management Systems and hierarchy of risk controls are at the heart of JESS business model. The company’s slogan “safe people, safe places, safe planet” encourages everyone to make choices that reduce risk and promote environmental conservation. When not working, Jennings enjoys traveling and has visited over 60 countries but she says “none as beautiful as The Bahamas.”

Thank you and appreciation goes out to Dr. Sylvia T. Callender-Carter , Global Health Consultant and graduate of Andrews University, Loma Linda University and Adventist University of the Philippines. She suggested and connected Environmental Fridays with Ms. Jennings. Her career spans more than 25 years in Environmental and Occupational Health as well as Community Health. Her key experiences included: Hazard Communication Training & Hazardous Materials Management (Downstate Hospital, Brooklyn). Hazardous Waste Site Emergency Response, at Hunter College where she delivered training to the Teamsters Union and NY State Dept. of Environmental Protection. Her most recent work in public health education was in East Africa where her work was on social justice, health equity and community-based education for clinicians.

EF 7 Cover, Friday, October 29, 2021

Fri, 29 Oct 2021 15:19:54 GMT

Thank you to Dr. Chartanay Bonner , Associate Director for Enrollment Management, Student Success, and Broadening Participation at the Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering ( JSNN ), Greensboro, North Carolina. Bonner received her Chemistry B.S. degree from Tuskegee University in 2012 and her Chemistry PhD at Western Michigan University (WMU) in 2018. She researched the design, synthesis, and environmental impact of nanomaterials. More specifically, she focused on understanding how emerging contaminants such as silver nanoparticles and heavy metals impact bioremediation processes and sustainability. Bonner also did postdoctoral research in higher education at WMU through a Howard Hughes Medical Institute grant. In addition to her career and academic pursuits, Bonner serves as the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers ( NOBCChE ) STEM Festival Chair. Bonner is dedicated to advancing the scientific field by advocating for diversity and inclusion within STEM academia, research, and service. Her lecture on Nanotechnology and the Environment can be viewed here on YouTube.

Thanks also to Cali Orman, a native of Biloxi, Mississippi, and a Junior at the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science . MSMS is a public residential high school for academically gifted and talented students, and it is a member of the National Consortium for Secondary STEM Schools (NCSSS). She is involved in soccer, the drama club, humanities outreach, interact club, and speech and enjoys studying show production and dramatic performance. After graduation Cali hopes to Intern with Disney’s Imagineering program before attending a university for her business degree.

EF 6 Cover, Friday, October 22, 2021

Fri, 22 Oct 2021 15:15:24 GMT

Thank you to Ms. Alia Juman , Outreach Officer at UWI Seismic Research Centre, and Mr. Roderick Stewart , Research Fellow at Montserrat Volcanic Observatory. Their joint very informative presentation was on St. Vincent’s La Soufreire Volcanic Eruption. Their lecture can be viewed here on YouTube.

Thanks also to Alex Davis , a 3rd year BSc Criminology and Criminal Justice student at the University of the Southern Caribbean (USC). Currently serving as President of the VINADA Cultural club at USC. His academic goals are to one day hold a PhD in Forensic Criminology/ Intelligence Management and his professional goals are to be a Professor, Criminologist, Commandant of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Cadet Force an organization of which he holds dearly and currently serves at the rank of Warrant Officer 2nd Class with too many responsibilities to state and ultimately becoming the Governor-General of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Alex has received many awards most notably the Duke of Edinburgh Awards locally known in Trinidad and Tobago as the President's Awards where he holds the Bronze, Silver, Gold and Leaders awards from said organization. Alex loves the outdoors; be it spending the day at the beach or hiking. He has 4 dogs and is the eldest of his parent's children. His officers describe him as calm, friendly, approachable to his subordinates but firm and no-nonsense.

EF 5 Cover, Friday, October 15, 2021

Fri, 15 Oct 2021 15:12:39 GMT

Thank you to Dr. Jaeson Clayborn , Assistant Professor in biology at Miami Dade College Padrón Campus. He is Adjunct Professor at Florida International University from which he secured his PhD in Biological Sciences. He also has an MS in Environmental Science and Policy from the University of South Florida. His passion is education and research in conservation and sustainability. Clayborn’s professional life goals are to understand and preserve the entomological and botanical world, engage local communities through service-learning and inquiry-based activities, and empower people to become citizen scientists. His lecture on Butterfly World 1.0: A Virtual Gaming Experience can be viewed here .

Thanks also to Jordan Rogers, a senior at the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science . MSMS is a public residential high school for academically gifted and talented students, and it is a member of the National Consortium for Secondary STEM Schools (NCSSS). Jordan serves as a peer tutor, works with the math outreach program, and is heavily involved in the research program with Mississippi State University. Outside of school, she works as an editor/staff writer for The Vision and is a student in the IBM Quantum and MIT affiliate program, Qubit by Qubit. She has also showed interest in environmental conservation and the awareness of it through multiple projects. Jordan hopes for all people to have a greater understanding of human effects on the environments, so that further destruction can be prevented.

EF 4 Cover, Friday, October 8, 2021

Fri, 08 Oct 2021 15:09:38 GMT

The body content of your post goes here. To edit this text, click on it and delete this default text and start typing your own or paste your own from a different source.Thank you to Dr Sharda Mahabir , National Coordinator for the Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme in Trinidad and Tobago, and Mr. Darion Fraser , Outreach Officer of WASA’s Adopt A River . The Adopt A River programme was developed by Mahabir and it reached 5000 persons and trained over 200 community members in two years. Mahabir has a PhD in Environmental Biology from the University of the West Indies (UWI), St. Augustine, Trinidad. Fraser is currently pursuing a Master of Science degree in Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Development in the Caribbean at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine.

Their joint presentation was on Community-based Environmental Projects. One of their emphases was on the requirement and necessity of collaboration and cooperation in all sectors of society and government and especially by the local community for environmental change to take place. Their lecture can be viewed on YouTube here .

Thanks also to my friend and Environmental Fridays regular Dr. Len Archer for co-hosting this session of Environmental Fridays with me. Archer holds the title of Professor Emeritus since his retirement in 2020 from AdventHealth University where he served as the Vice-President for Academic Administration and Academic Dean for Undergraduate programs at AdventHealth University for 10 years. Dr. Archer is a native of Trinidad and Tobago and received his undergraduate degree in Botany and Applied Botany at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad. He then completed an M.S. In Biology at Andrews University and a PhD in Microbiology at Indiana State University. He joined the faculty at AHU in 1993 and served as an academic department chair from 2000 to 2011. He has published in Microbiology and presented at national meetings on student retention and student advisement at the American Association of College Registrars and Academic Officers (AACRAO) where he was a member of AACRAO national committees and the General Conference of SDA Health Professional Education Committee. Dr. Archer has been a nominee for several teaching awards and a recipient of the Zapara Excellence in Teaching Award. In 2020, Dr. Archer was the recipient of the AdventHealth University Distinguished Service Award. He remains active as a consultant in academic administration, faculty development, and accreditation

EF 3 Cover, Friday, October 1, 2021

Fri, 01 Oct 2021 14:33:40 GMT

Thank you to Associate Professor I Leslie Rubin of Morehouse School of Medicine in the Department of Pediatrics. He is also Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine, Co-director of the Southeast Pediatric Environmental Health Unit (PEHSU) at Emory University, and Medical Director of The Rubin Center for Autism and Developmental Pediatrics. He is the founder of Break the Cycle of Health Disparities, Inc . a private not-for-profit 501c3 organization dedicated to the reducing social, economic, and environmental determinants of health disparities. His lecture was on Breaking the Cycle of Children’s Environmental Health Disparities can be viewed on YouTube here .

Thanks also to my dear friend Dr. Laurel Berman for co-hosting this session of Environmental Fridays with me. She leads the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry’s National Land Reuse (ATSDR) Health Program , which integrates public health and redevelopment from the early planning stages. She brings her skills to the Initiative from a long career as an environmental scientist and a community engagement specialist. Dr. Berman holds Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) School of Public Health, with a focus on industrial hygiene and toxicology. She is adjunct faculty in public health at UIC, DePaul University, and Andrews University.

EF 2 Cover, Friday, September 24, 2021

Fri, 24 Sep 2021 14:30:12 GMT

Thank you to Assistant Professor Samantha Chadee from the University of Trinidad and Tobago. Her lecture was on the Sustainable Use of Caribbean Natural Resources. She identified existing problems and offered hope and solutions. Her lecture can be viewed on YouTube here .

Thank you also to Dr. Susan Julia Chand for co-hosting this session of Environmental Fridays. She is Professor of Anthropology in the School of Social Sciences and Director for Research and Innovation at the University of the Southern Caribbean (USC), Trinidad and Tobago.

Being a botanist and a medical anthropologist, Dr. Chand has been passionate in conducting studies on medicinal plants and ethnomedicine (folk medicine). She is actively involved in research and scholarship in diasporic and migration studies, ethnomedicine, medical pluralism, health seeking behaviors, lifestyle medicine, cultural competence, and political integration, to name a few.

EF 1 Cover, Friday, September 17, 2021

Tue, 21 Sep 2021 14:26:52 GMT

Thank you, Ms. Sharon Lavigne, Founder of RISE St. James, and a 2021 Goldman Environmental Prize winner, for your inspiring inaugural lecture in the Fall 2021 Environmental Fridays Guest Lecture Series. Her lecture can be viewed on YouTube here .

Her talk focused on the struggle to halt the establishment of another chemical factory in her neighborhood and to empower her fellow citizens to rise up and stand up for themselves in the face of environmental racism and the killing fields of Louisiana’s 'Cancer Alley.' See more about this grassroots struggle in St. James Parish, Louisiana, led by Ms. Lavigne on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTmyawguy9E&t=16s . You can also keep informed about RISE St. James at https://www.facebook.com/risestjames .

Thank you also to Ms. Shamyra Elizabeth Lavigne , daughter of Ms. Sharon Lavigne, for co-hosting this first session of Environmental Fridays. Shamyra, granddaughter of a Civil Rights Activist, is a 2014 graduate of Southern University and Executive Assistant of RISE St. James. As of 2020, she is a Certified Life Coach and Owner of Shamyra Elizabeth Coaching, L.L.C.

You too can join the fight in support of RISE St. James by writing to Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards and U.S. President Joe Biden urging them to cancel the proposed building of the Formosa plastics plant in St. James Parish.