Environmental Justice considers the intersection of social justice and environmental issues. Building on prior civil and human rights movements in under-represented and under-resourced communities, it links spatial analysis and theories of human-environment relationships to remedy inequitable distribution of a wide range of environmental risks and benefits. These span urban, industrial, rural, and suburban settings and may include concerns such as air, water, and soil contamination; climate change mitigation and adaptation; allocation of environmental goods such as green spaces and outdoor recreation; and food, energy, water, and transportation systems, with major implications for public health, environmental hazards, urban design, community and economic development, natural resource management, and infrastructure planning.   

Why Study Environmental Justice at UNH? 

Our Environmental Justice Minor is one of very few university programs in this field. The curriculum provides a perspective that is deeply geographic, incorporating human-environment relationships, spatial analysis, and local-to-global dynamics, yet also borrows from other disciplines for depth of knowledge about the social science of racial justice and the biophysical science of environmental phenomena. Our students thereby develop the ability to synthesize diverse fields of knowledge to inform decision making in a wide range of jobs in government, business, and non-profit organizations. 

Our students also acquire basic skills in the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to aggregate, analyze, and display data, which positions them well for interesting and well-paying jobs with excellent prospects for lifelong career advancement and learning. Decision makers, practitioners, advocates, and researchers often use these tools to advance environmental justice through the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental ordinances, laws, regulations, policies, and practices that ensure the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income.

Potential Career Areas

• Community development
• Public health
• City, town, or regional planning 
• International development 
• Environmental and social change advocacy 
• Geospatial data analysis 
• Natural resources, food systems, and rural livelihoods 
• Infrastructure and transportation policy 
• Social sciences teacher 
• Policy specialist 
• Public interest law