Investigating Relationships Between Environmental Justice and Science Identity in an Analytical Chemistry Course

This work is centered on exploring students’ science identities as they pertain to environmental justice (EJ). Our research is positioned in an analytical chemistry course that incorporates in-depth discussion on EJ, broader discussions of sustainability, and career-focused applications. The curriculum is intended to build communities within and outside of the classroom, empower marginalized students, and recognize student achievement in diverse scientific contexts. The Just Transition Framework centers the worker as key to societal transition from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy and has been incorporated into an environmental justice dialogue. The purpose of the dialogue was to support building community, developing a holistic science identity, and generating ideas related to environmental justice. Students were further asked to prepare a presentation relating systems thinking and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) to a recent research publication. In this work we analyze student written reflections on the dialogue and their presentations. We examined how students plan to use EJ in their career. We further examined how students discuss their science identity with respect to EJ and the scientific practices students relate to EJ. We further identified elements of systems thinking that students plan to use in their careers. This work contributes an understanding of student aspirational beliefs and practices associated with EJ.