Jayajit Chakraborty

Bio

Jayajit Chakraborty is a Professor and Mellichamp Chair in Racial Environmental Justice at the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management at UC Santa Barbara. He has a Ph.D. in Geography and M.S. in Urban & Regional Planning, both from the University of Iowa. Professor Chakraborty’s research activities encompass a wide range of concerns related to the social dimensions of climate and environmental change, with an emphasis on environmental justice and community vulnerability to hazards, risks, and disasters. Other topics of interest include climate justice, disability justice, food security, and health equity. His scholarship has examined environmental and social inequalities at multiple geographic scales in the US, US-Mexico border, Australia, and India. His research utilizes a variety of methodologies, including applications of GIS and spatial statistical techniques, as well as social surveys and mixed-methods approaches.

Professor Chakraborty has published 4 books and more than 120 articles/chapters, including The Routledge Handbook of Environmental Justice and a chapter for the US Government's Fifth National Climate Assessment. His research projects have been funded by grants from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), US National Science Foundation (NSF), US Department of Transportation, US Department of Treasury, American Association of Geographers, Australian Research Council, and many other agencies. He was also a recipient of the University of Texas System Faculty STARs Award and the NSF Geospatial Fellowship for Advancing COVID-19 Research and Education.

Professor Chakraborty currently serves on the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) Committee on Utilizing Advanced Environmental Health and Geospatial Data and Technologies to Inform Community Investment and coauthored a NASEM study report on Constructing Valid Geospatial Tools for Environmental Justice. He recently served as a member of the EPA Science Advisory Board and the inaugural EPA Environmental Justice Science Committee. He also chaired the Scientific Review Panel for the EPA's EJScreen Mapping & Screening Tool and served as a lead discussant on the EPA Environmental Justice Science & Analysis Review Panel. Professor Chakraborty serves on the editorial board of several journals, including Environmental Justice and Environment, Development & Sustainability.