MPH Student Helps Tell the Story of Environmental Injustice in City of Albany Public Housing Complex

ALBANY, N.Y. (Nov. 15, 2022) — SPH student Saima Hannan knew she wanted to be a physician. She was also interested in public health. So, she enrolled in the dual BS/Master of Public Health (MPH) program offered through UAlbany’s School of Public Health and Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. She started on her MPH, working to deepen her knowledge of public health while preparing for medical school.

But COVID-19 disrupted Hannan’s plans. She lost both her part-time job as a medical scribe at a local urgent care clinic, as well as her volunteer position at Albany Medical Center due to the pandemic. Despite losing these opportunities, Hannan was eager to continue working to better the community while building experience to enrich her chosen career path.

She reached out to one of her professors at Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Stacy Pettigrew — an alum of UAlbany’s Environmental Health Sciences PhD program.

“Professor Pettigrew told me about Ezra Prentice, a public housing complex situated next to the Port of Albany in the South End of Albany, New York, where residents have long experienced ongoing environmental injustices that harm health. The complex was built next to a freeway and an industrial zone, so air pollution is a major concern for the residents. It is a classic case of discrimination against poor people of color — who in this instance, were relocated to make way for the construction of Empire State Plaza — but the full story had not been compiled into one cohesive narrative.”

Hannan’s interest was piqued, and she began to assist Pettigrew in May of 2020 with a narrative case study — a type of study where the researcher collects personal stories, often from people who experienced a specific event or time period.

“As a part of Professor Pettigrew’s team, I helped with compiling details of the story from the very beginning, before the construction of the housing complex began. While it was known that pollution from the port and freeway would compromise future residents’ health, construction of the Ezra Prentice complex went forward and was completed in 1967,” Hannan explains.

As the team delved into interviews with residents and environmental health experts, they realized that the story went deeper than they originally thought — and their team needed to expand.

“There was just so much to investigate. Additional students from Skidmore College joined Professor Pettigrew’s team, and I worked with many faculty and student researchers to help conduct the interviews, analyze the data and eventually, write up the manuscript.”

The resulting study, published in the International Journal of Justice and Sustainability, covers five decades of social justice advocacy surrounding the Ezra Prentice complex — including actions led by of residents, non-profit organizations, researchers and elected officials.

“Our interviews and research examined the distinct roles and demographic diversity of the stakeholders involved, including their connections to the housing complex and preferences for potential solutions,” Hannan explains. “There was consensus among the interviewees that the injustice committed against residents of Ezra Prentice was an example of environmental racism. The case demonstrates the critical need to ensure that policies designed to improve environmental quality consider everyone’s health and wellbeing, with particular attention to disadvantaged communities.”

An important contribution to broader scholarship on environmental racism, the study offers an analysis of the advocacy tools applied to the Ezra Prentice situation thus far and makes suggestions for future interventions. The study found that while education and outreach were important advocacy tools, Ezra Prentice residents were hesitant about speaking out or being on camera. This, Hannan says, is likely due to a fear of losing their housing.

“We were provided with a diversity of perspectives both within and outside of this marginalized community, which allowed us to learn just how tenacious these residents were. One thing I learned is that what happened at the Ezra Prentice housing complex is not limited to Albany, New York,” Hannan says. “There are many cities across the nation where injustices of this nature are heavily prevalent. I am grateful to be a part of important research that aims to raise awareness of systemic issues to hopefully find solutions.”

Back in October 2021, Saima presented initial findings from the narrative case study at the American Public Health Association Annual Conference, where she won second place for the Student Poster Award in the environmental section.

As to how this experience will impact her future studies and eventual career as a physician, Hannan says that studying public health has made her keenly aware of how the interplay of environmental factors — both social and physical — shape our health. She has now signed on to another research project led by Pettigrew, the South End Community Health Survey, that is looking at asthma rates in Ezra Prentice residents.

“Being a part of this research has made me further realize how important it is for me to become a physician who is aware of where my patients reside, what environmental risks might be present in their surroundings and what health resources are available to them,” Hannan says. “Regardless of what community I serve, I will use that knowledge to treat my patients with the best possible care.”