Turning Local Concerns Into Environmental Research

On a Monday afternoon in late April, 11 seniors majoring in environmental studies arrived at First A.M.E. Zion Church in the Humboldt neighborhood of Portland to deliver findings from their capstone projects. Representatives from the capstone’s four external collaborators—First A.M.E. Zion Church and the Boise, Eliot, and Humboldt Neighborhood Associations—were invited to attend this final spring event, as well as other Albina organizations, including Legacy Emanuel Medical Center and the nonprofit Albina Vision Trust.

The event marked the culmination of a semester of work in ENVS 400, a section of the environmental studies capstone course designed to respond to environmental questions from Albina residents, a historically Black area in Northeast Portland that has endured decades of discriminatory “urban renewal” policies. The capstone strengthens Lewis & Clark’s ongoing relationship with partners in the neighborhood, including the Albina Vision Trust.

Listening to Residents

James Proctor, professor of environmental studies, reimagined this capstone course section to center around Albina in spring 2025. It began not with seniors but with first-year students in ENVS 160: Introduction to Environmental Studies. These students conducted “neighborhood listening events” with the people of Albina to better understand their environmental priorities.

James Proctor, professor of environmental studiesThe first iteration of the capstone course centered on concerns about the invasive species tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima), which residents had identified as a nuisance in the listening sessions. With guidance from Proctor, students reframed their inquiry to broadly consider people and plants “in and out of place in Albina,” addressing the neighborhood’s legacies of exclusion and persistence.

In spring 2026, seniors responded to a different set of community priorities: air quality, traffic safety, and the potential use of mass timber in the reconstruction of First A.M.E. Zion Church. (Mass timber is a form of reengineered wood—made by bonding layers of lumber—that’s strong enough to replace steel or concrete, offering a lower-carbon, renewable building option that stores carbon over time.)

Proctor calls his approach to the course “situated, responsive research.” In teams of two or three, students gathered data—installing air meters and traffic sensors with the help of residents and partners—and presented their findings on a public website, Albina Maps, using spatial modeling from a Geographic Information System (GIS). The website offered access to Albina residents on all data and findings, including traffic speed and localized air pollution near areas like Interstate 5.

“Our goal was to be able to come back to them with data that either justified or alleviated their concerns,” says Max May BA ’26, who worked on air quality. Following a broad initial phase collecting traffic and air data in Albina neighborhoods, the second phase of the project narrowed its focus to Skidmore Street in Northeast Portland, a street of neighborhood concern where commuters often go to bypass traffic on I-5. The team found that air pollution was affected more by time than place, with spikes correlating to temporal variations and thermal inversions, as opposed to concentrations in specific areas.

Immersive Research

For Ashlyn Kelly BA ’26, the most impactful element of the capstone course was learning how to translate complex scientific ideas to the general public. Her research area was Albina traffic, for which students found increased volume and speed relative to earlier data. “Our major finding was that there are intersections that are either unidentified or unfunded by the Portland Bureau of Transportation,” Kelly says. “This is now evidence that the residents can take to city planners.”

The connection to First A.M.E. Zion Church stemmed from introductions made in last year’s ENVS 160 listening sessions. At that time, students learned that the building—the oldest Black church in the Pacific Northwest—was experiencing severe structural issues and in the initial stages of redeveloping their land with limited funds. Students in this year’s ENVS 400 worked to identify solutions that were both sustainable and cost effective, focusing on mass timber.

“Our job was to think about the inner workings of the timber industry, breaking down the advantages and disadvantages,” says JG Madsen BA ’26. “There can be a lot of forestry benefits to mass timber, and from a developer’s perspective, it might turn out to be an easier material to work with on the church project.”

Neighborhood air quality was another focus. Turning data from air meters and traffic sensors into something understandable for the average person was a challenge in itself. Emma Johnson BA ’26 drew from her experience in courses with Jessica Kleiss, associate professor of environmental studies, who had introduced her to ArcGIS mapping software. But it was Johnson’s first time working with the platform, and she met often with Alana Rader, assistant professor of environmental studies, to develop her geospatial analysis skills. (Rader teaches a 400-level course in landscape mapping and monitoring.)

“It’s been hard, but I learned how to work with a team, collaborating and communicating with each other,” says Johnson. “And we now have the Albina Maps website. Our work is not just in a paper that lives somewhere on Google Drive—it’s now a public resource that can help people in the future.”

The Power of Community Connection

Proctor sees this connection with and immersion into local communities as an essential part of training future leaders—and improving their understanding of the natural world.

“I’ve taken students to forests, to farms, to southern Africa, and in all these cases, students report learning more,” says Proctor. “Students benefit from courses that find ways to connect them with experiential opportunities off campus.”

Environmental Studies L&C’s Albina Partnership