Backyard Anthropology and Community-Based Environmental Protection: Lessons from the SFAA Environmental Anthropology Project

Abstract

This issue of Practicing Anthropology communicates some lessons emerging from a unique praxis project that attempted to strengthen the meaning and presence of environmental anthropology in U.S. communities. We include articles authored by some of the SfAA Environmental Anthropology Project interns and fellows. David Driscoll's work in South Florida on The Brownfields/Eastward Ho! Project involved developing and testing a participatory approach to environmental risk and brownfields redevelopment planning in an urban neighborhood, and advising public officials on methodologies for profiling and assessing the range of communities affected by brownfields issues. Johnelle Lamarque's internship with Philadelphia residents and property owners involved documenting their awareness of lead hazards and assessing the efficacy of existing lead hazards outreach. Her work demonstrates how cultural values are embedded in outreach materials, suggesting that environmental health information may be communicated in ways that discourage behavioral change. John Stone's fellowship involved demonstrating the utility of Risk Perception Mapping (RPM) to planning staff at the Great Lakes Commission by developing case study data in ways that demonstrated RPM methodology and planning process contributions. Aaron Scrol's fellowship with the Lower Elwha Tribe supported tribal efforts to define and shape political mechanisms that protect the reservation community water system. And, Kreg Ettenger worked with the Haudensaunee Environmental Task Force and the Tuscarora Nation Nations to support efforts to produce culturally relevant information about source water threats and protection needs.