By Marcela Berrios, Hannah Storm Journalism Intern
She may not have a red cape, but biological sciences professor Kristin Shrader-Frechette has been named one of 12 “heroes for America and the world” by Catholic Digest Magazine. Shrader-Frechette is joined by 11 other laypeople whose humanitarian work is “making a positive difference in their communities and beyond.”
The F.J. and H.M. O’Neill Professor of Philosophy and a concurrent professor of biological sciences, Shrader-Frechette earned a spot on the list thanks to her work on behalf of environmental justice.
“The environment is not necessarily a social justice issue, but the environmental effects of pollution are,” she said. “Environmental injustice – and by that I mean disproportionate pollution forced on children, poor people, minorities and workers – is a social justice issue, because unfair pollution burdens take away not only poor people’s money, but something that is even more important: their lives and their health.”
According to Catholic Digest, Shrader-Frechette has advised the EPA, NASA, the United Nations and various governments on environmental issues. In 2004, she became the third American ever to win the World Technology Award in ethics.
She also has involved her students in her fight against “the unjust concentration of pollutants and environmental hazards in poor and minority communities, evaluating draft Congressional bills that threaten children’s health, and attempting to improve current policy regarding U.S. biological warfare experiments,” the article said.
Shrader-Frechete told Catholic Digest she and her students tackle about 30 pro-bono projects every year.
“My students and I work mainly with poor, black, Latino, Native-American and Appalachian communities,” she said. “We simply try to provide some scientific help so that the people are able to protect themselves, especially their children.”
But there is nothing simple about her work.
In the early 1990s, she and her students discovered scientific errors and ethical problems in a major corporation’s impact assessment of a new uranium-enrichment plant in Homer, La. – a predominantly African-American community. Shrader-Frechette said these types of industrial polluters – which tend to establish themselves in poor and minority neighborhoods – can be tied to higher rates of cancer incidence in their neighborhoods.
She and many scientists agree that many types of cancer can be induced by continued exposure to adverse environmental conditions, like polluted air and unclean water. So Shrader-Frechette helped take the Homer case to court. The verdict in the town’s favor became one of the first major victories against environmental racism in the United States.
Fighting to improve the quality of life in these voiceless communities, Shrader-Frechette truly is an American hero.
