BIOS
The SciCAN team is a group of grassroots Environmental Justice advocates who are committed to building and sustaining a community of grassroots leaders and issue area experts in environmental and public health science and policy
JESSICA THOMAS
Jessica Thomas (she/her) is the Outreach Coordinator of SciCAN. Jessica has been working towards justice-centered science and policy advocacy for over 10 years, principally at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). Jessica has been learning from, strategizing, and challenging systems with many EJ leaders, communities, and organizations across the country who are shaping and using scientific and technical information to advance and win their campaigns, and with issue area experts who are committed to principled partnerships with EJ communities.
ELIZABETH FRIEDMAN
Dr. Elizabeth Friedman is currently the medical director of an environmental health program at an academic institution and children’s hospital. She is a co-PI of one of ten Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Units in the nation, and she works with patients in a primary care clinic. With her academic time, Dr. Friedman partners with several community groups to develop community driven environmental health research and/or interventions to address environmental health exposures.
MS. MARGARET
Ms. Margaret Gordon, co-founder and co-director of the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project (WOEIP) starting 2000 has been collaborating with neighborhood organizations, physicians, Citizen Science researchers, and public officials to ensure West Oakland residents enjoy a clean environment. Since 1998, through research, data collection and analysis, a body of community-based participatory research has led to safer jobs, schools, and homes. Gordon’s expertise has earned her roles in a number of local and state advisory boards and steering committees, including the California Environmental Health Tracking Project’s Alameda County Pilot Project, the West OaklandProject Area Committee, and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District’s Community Air Risk Evaluation Program. She has also served on Port of Oakland Commission and c AB 617 with Bay Area Air Management District/West Oakband Community Action Plan starting 2017 and 2021 became Board member Aclima Advisory Board to guide the development of science and technology that supports emissions reductions, public health, and environmental justice policy for with communities such as West Oakland In 2022 appointed to the BAAQMD Citizen Advisory Committee, member of the Oakland General Plan for community engagement 2022
BETO
Beto is a grassroots environmental justice organizer and executive director of RIS4EJ. Beto serves to raise community voices in the fight against environmental racism, and to overcome systemic exclusion of frontline communities from decision-making processes. His lived experience, growing up fenceline to a petrochemical facility, continues to drive his work at the intersection of climate, environmental justice, and public health.