Though African Americans compose 13% of the U.S. population, they received only 2.8% of the nation’s total environmental science degrees in 2016, according to DATAUSA, making environmental science among the least diverse fields of scientific study.
But rather than investing resources into recruiting minority students or researching why so few Black students pursue environmental science, many university departments fall victim to a long-held and problematic assumption.
“If you asked the question or polled a hundred departments, the number one response would be ‘people of color are just not interested in the environment,’” says Dr. Dorceta Taylor, professor of environmental justice and environmental sociology at the University of Michigan’s School of Environment and Sustainability.
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