ANN ARBOR—Bunyan Bryant has spent much of his career trying to dispel the myth that environmentalism is primarily an issue for whites.

The professor of natural resources at the University of Michigan is a pioneer in the field of environmental justice. He and U-M colleague Prof. Paul Mohai were among the earliest researchers to assemble evidence that minority neighborhoods are disproportionately exposed to environmental hazards.

“Whether we’re talking about air pollution or toxic landfills, the worst environmental problems tend to turn up in minority neighborhoods,” said Bryant. He has presented findings about race and the incidence of environmental hazards at conferences throughout the world—from the International Conference on Environmental Justice and Global Ethics for the 21st Century in Melbourne, Australia, to gatherings of the Congressional Black Caucus in Washington, D.C.

The first African American on the faculty of the U-M School of Natural Resources and Environment (SNRE), Bryant is now inspiring the second generation of students in the School’s Environmental Justice Program. Bryant was instrumental in establishing the program 11 years ago, as well as its predecessor, the Environmental Advocacy Program.

The University recently honored Bryant’s work with two distinguished awards. He received the 2001 Harold R. Johnson Diversity Service Award for commitment to the development of a more culturally and ethnically diverse campus community. Also this year, he was named a Thurnau Professor, a professorship that recognizes and rewards faculty who have made outstanding contributions to undergraduate education at U-M.

Since the mid-1960s, Bryant has dedicated himself to direct-action, nonviolent civil rights activities, first as a graduate student challenging housing discrimination in Ann Arbor, and later through participation in the 1970 Black Action Movement (BAM) at U-M. In 1973, he made the transition from social work—Bryant earned a master’s degree in social work, and a Ph.D. in education from U-M—to Resource Policy and Behavior.

“I started looking at things in a systematic way,” he said. “Without preservation of natural resources, there can be no economic or social equity.”

The Environmental Advocacy Program began as a follow-up to BAM. Students organized a series of environmental teach-ins and lobbied the faculty to offer such a program. By 1990, the Environmental Justice Program, which offers undergraduate, master’s and doctoral degrees, had resulted from the efforts of Bryant, Mohai, and students.

“The EJ Program is the first program of its kind offered at a college or university in the United States,” said Bryant.

Recognizing that poverty and racism are the greatest causal factors of environmental injustice, Bryant, his SNRE colleagues, and students work to convince policy-makers to make informed decisions that will make neighborhoods clean, safe, nurturing, and just.

“The United Church of Christ report, among others, has documented that race is the greatest explanatory variable for predicting the location of hazardous landfills,” Bryant said. “That doesn’t mean toxic landfills are not found in poor white neighborhoods—just that a greater number are located in minority neighborhoods than those of their white counterparts.”

Bryant and Mohai were co-principal investigators of the 1990 Detroit Area Study that found evidence of that relationship in Detroit. They helped secure a milestone in environmental justice for the nation in 1990 by spearheading the historic Michigan Conference on Race and the Incidence of Environmental Hazards held in Ann Arbor. The conference leaders commissioned and edited a collection of writings on the topic, most by people of color. The book is still used in law courses and environmental studies programs across the country.

The conference also helped to generate a report that resulted in the establishment of the Office of Environmental Equity—now the Office of Environmental Justice—within the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under former EPA administrator William K. Reilly. P>”The early 1990s was when environmental justice really hit the national radar screen for the EPA and the federal government,” said Bryant. “I believe that 1990 conference was the main catalyst.”

The EJ Program also addresses environmental problems of rural and Native American lands, the appropriation of land, and the destruction of indigenous cultures. Bryant is currently preparing a new course on global climate change and environmental justice. To jump start the course, Bryant plans to work with students to develop a teach-in on the same subject and invite participation from world leaders and CEOs of environmental organizations.

“Will everyone throughout the world be impacted equally by global climate change? This and other questions will be answered during the teach-in,” Bryant said.

Bryant has published numerous articles and papers citing the disproportionate incidence of hazardous waste facilities and landfills in minority urban neighborhoods. His writings have appeared in the Journal of Public Management and Social Policy; Public Policy; Poverty and Race; the Virginia Environmental Law Journal, and the EPA Journal, among many other periodicals.

He has been recognized by the EPA for his outstanding contribution on the Air and Water Subcommittee of the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council and received the U-M Dreamkeeper Award for commitment to improving the quality of life for all people of color.

He is particularly proud of his most recent honor—being named Outstanding Alumnus last May by Northern High School in Flint, Mich.

Bunyan BryantPaul MohaiSchool of Natural Resources and EnvironmentOffice of Environmental JusticeJournal of Public Management and Social PolicyAir and Water Subcommittee