MJ Jones Portfolio

Environmental Justice

“Progress means getting nearer to the place you want to be. And if you have taken a wrong turn, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road” C.S. Lewis

The beginning

1996-1998, Environmental Club

In 1996, I spearheaded the Environmental Club in high school, improving our recycling program by putting up clarifying sineage and acquiring additional bins. I was also passionate about including everyone in out outdoor trips, so I updated events, travel, and resources. Low and behold it was my first activism in Envirnomental Justice.

Some events I planned were:

Cross-country skiing trip with low-cost rentals and carpooling
Hiking trip to hear the elk bugle with carpooling
Overnight trip to a peer's mountain cabin with a low-cost spaghetti dinner, including parents for ease of travel

1996, Nordic skiing trip,
Boulder High School Environmental Club
Image credit: TUNA

Inspiration

Environmental Justice as a state of mind

I was lucky to grow up with family that took us into the wilderness for camping, hiking, and skiing. I learned the value of nature and Sense of Place, as described by Aldo Leopold, as a place for humans among "the land," as I mention in Belonging.

The "land" includes all parts of the Earth: soils, waters, plants, and animals
A "land ethic" is a moral code of conduct that connects caring relationships

In 2019, Aldo Leopold's A Sand County Almanac (1949) turned 70. Land ethic has been called Leopold's “project for worldview remediation” (Callicott 2013). It was an effort to right the ecological wrongs he discovered throughout a lifetime of studying the land by reconceiving our relationships with nature.

Leopold’s use of history can be interpreted as seeking to achieve three interrelated goals: (1) to underscore the place of humans in history; (2) to illustrate how historical events have been to some extent influenced by humans’ interaction with the land; and (3) to raise ecological and historical awareness and spur action toward careful intervention in the environment. (Celebrating Aldo Leopold's land ethic at 70, Society for Conservation Biology)

Image: The Aldo Leopold Foundation

Washington’s Environmental Justice Law

The HEAL Act of 2021: Healthy Environment for All

Image: HEAL

Washington voters recognize the importance of explicitly addressing Environmental Justice

Image: HEAL

Experience

Engineering

I worked on several water projects for Engineers Without Borders in response to hurricane Mitch
See Project Management

Earth Science Courses

Ecology restoration at Camp Hale
Local water quality projects
The environmental and political history of the Hetch Hetchy Valley
See STEM Education

Research and Communications

I promote EJ work in my current role with the International Peace Research Association.
See Current EA Role

Google Sites

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