Mark Chambers is a Civic Science Fellow at EDGI. Mark is a historian who teaches and writes about the intersections between American society, environments, and technologies at Stony Brook University, where he earned a Ph.D. in U.S. environmental history. Mark teaches diverse subjects and also reaches non-academic adult audiences through his work with local museums and public institutions that are distinctively situated to transform communities. His forthcoming book, based on his dissertation is entitled, Gray Gold: Lead Mining and Its Impact on the Natural and Cultural Environment, 1720 to 1840, examines cross-cultural exchanges of knowledge and technology between Native American, European, African, and African American societies in North America since the early eighteenth century, and exemplifies how his training combines scientific and technological knowledge with narrative and story-telling.
As a Civic Science fellow with EDGI, Mark will work on a project that assesses whether or how well the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) public data infrastructure serves marginalized communities and suggests remedies for improving those services. Mark’s fellowship builds on his previous work on environmental justice issues with EDGI’s team of researchers and academics (organized with Chris Sellers), especially their interview project with current and recent EPA staff and EJ activists.