Environmental justice research relies on interdisciplinary, data-driven approaches to understand how structural inequities shape environmental outcomes. However, the current defunding of environmental justice policy, staff, and research exacerbates disproportionate impacts of environmental change in fenceline communities. Still, researchers, often Women and Women of Color, are advancing innovative approaches that integrate geospatial analysis, environmental monitoring, and community-engaged research to identify disparities in environmental burdens and promote equitable environmental decision-making.

This session highlights the critical contributions of women as next-generation environmental justice leaders who apply quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods to examine disproportionate environmental risks across marginalized communities, while considering how funding inequities and limited representation shape research trajectories, data availability, and scientific priorities. We invite contributions from early-career scientists, students, and community leaders that explore how environmental data can be used to identify environmental disparities; evaluate structural drivers of environmental exposure; and develop justice-centered frameworks that improve inclusion and societal relevance.

• A - Atmospheric Sciences
• EP - Earth and Planetary Surface Processes
• GC - Global Environmental Change
• GH - GeoHealth