Speakers 

“The Hidden Cost of Factory Farms: Environmental Injustice in Rural Communities” 

Kim Ferraro, Managing Attorney, Conservation Law Center at Indiana University’s Maurer School of Law  

Kim Ferraro is the Managing Attorney with the Conservation Law Center at Indiana University’s Maurer School of Law where heads CLC’s legal team and teaches environmental law and litigation. Before joining CLC, Ferraro was a Senior Attorney with the Hoosier Environmental Council (HEC), Indiana’s largest statewide environmental advocacy organization where she was the force behind numerous precedent-setting victories in federal and state courts that held polluters and regulators accountable and enforced the laws and policies meant to protect the environment and human health. Among other successes, her legal advocacy stopped several factory farms from endangering the health of Hoosier communities, required the cleanup of millions of tons of steel-making waste dumped within feet of Lake Michigan, put an end to toxic exposures suffered by a low-income community in Elkhart from a nearby industrial waste processor, prevented a dangerous ethanol refinery from being built near the Kankakee River, and required federal agencies to enforce existing protections for the state’s few remaining wetlands. Ferraro is a graduate of Valparaiso University School of Law and DePaul University. She is licensed to practice in Indiana and Illinois and is admitted to the bars of the U.S. Northern and Southern District Courts of Indiana, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, and the U.S. Supreme Court. 

"Superfunds are not Super Fun." 

Dr. Carolyn Boiarsky, Prof. Emerita, Purdue University Northwest 

This is the story of 1,300 residents who were forcibly evicted from their homes at the West Calumet Housing Complex in East Chicago, Indiana, in 2016 when the EPA finally told them about the high levels of lead that had been in the soil around their houses for the past 35 years. 

Biography:  Carolyn R. Boiarsky began her career as Statehouse correspondent for United Press International (UPI) in 1964, one of only a few female investigative reporters in the country. She has published in the New Republic, the Progressive, and various newspaper Sunday supplements. Since 1995 she has served as a professor of English at Purdue University Northwest and was the founder of the Northwest Indiana Writing Project. She is the author of five books on professional writing.

GARD: Organizing to Protect Community Health and Natural Resources in Gary, Indiana

Dorreen Carey, President, Gary Advocates for Responsible Development (GARD)

Dorreen Carey has lived and worked in Gary, IN. for over 40 years. She earned her BA from Reed College in Portland, Oregon and an MA from the University of Connecticut. She is a retired state and municipal environmental manager, environmental not for profit executive director, and lifelong environmental activist. In 2021, Dorreen joined with other Gary residents to form a volunteer ad hoc group, Gary Advocates for Responsible Development (GARD) to oppose locating a proposed garbage to jet-fuel plant on Gary’s Lake Michigan Shoreline. The garbage to jet-fuel plant was ultimately not built due to technology failures identified by GARD. She is currently the President of GARD, which received 501 c 3 status in 2024 and continues to engage at the community level to oppose siting polluting industrial and waste facilities in Gary and to identify and support sustainable economic development opportunities for community revitalization.

Dr. Aaron Thompson, Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture and Director of the Purdue University Center for Community & Environmental Design

Aaron Thompson is an Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture at Purdue University. As the Director of the Center for Community and Environmental Design, his outreach initiatives focused on sustainable landscape development have led to the completion of more than 150 community service-learning projects. Dr. Thompson's research integrates social and ecological factors in landscape design to balance human needs and natural systems. Dr. Thompson also serves as the Environment Justice co-lead for Purdue University's Institute for a Sustainable Future.

Dr. Chris Iceman, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Valparaiso University

For the past ten years, I have been engaged in environmental justice work in Northwest Indiana, providing scientific analysis for community-led initiatives focused on soil, water, and especially air quality. As part of this effort, I have helped install and maintain a network of approximately 30 PurpleAir sensors across Lake, Porter, and La Porte counties, ensuring continuous data collection and accessibility. Beyond deployment, I have worked extensively with my students on data analysis and archiving, supporting residents as they navigate air permit hearings with agencies such as IDEM and the EPA. This work bridges community concerns with scientific rigor, empowering local advocacy with clear, actionable environmental data.