Campus Compact is pleased to announce that Jennifer Carrera, assistant professor of sociology at Michigan State University has been awarded Campus Compact’s Ernest A. Lynton Award for the Scholarship of Engagement. The award, presented in partnership with Brown University’s Swearer Center, recognizes early-career faculty who practice exemplary engaged scholarship through teaching and research. Recipients are selected on the basis of their collaboration with communities, institutional impact, and high-quality academic work.
Carrera is recognized for her deep commitment to environmental justice and for supporting and uplifting the voices of marginalized communities that are impacted by environmental crises. Her research, which focuses on water access and water quality for low-income communities in the United States, centers the expertise of residents in experiencing and responding to public health crises. She undertakes this work through a racial equity lens, exploring how structural and historical systems perpetuate disparities in environmental health. Through her work, Carrera aims to arm community members with the tools they need to promote their vision of health and well-being and to hold those entrusted with ensuring public health accountable. For the past seven years, Carrera has worked with the residents of Flint, Michigan across multiple projects, supporting their efforts to find answers to ongoing questions about local public health.
“Far too often university (and government) programs and initiatives meant to serve the public good underserve (at best) or ignore (at worst) those communities that are most victimized historically & most marginalized currently,” said Aaron M. McCright, professor & chairperson of the MSU department of sociology in a letter nominating Carrera for the award. “In the wake of the Flint water crisis—an epic institutional failure by any measure—Dr. Carrera’s [community-based participatory research] project provides a valuable corrective to help a victimized community reaffirm its dignity, empower itself to recover, and strengthen its capacity for future resilience. I expect that her continued work will serve as a model across academia for how to establish & maintain mutually beneficial community-university partnerships,”
In addition, Samantha Francois, assistant professor at Tulane University’s School of Social Work, also received this year’s Lynton Award. Mark Congdon, assistant professor of communication studies and faculty advisor to PRSSA at Sacred Heart University, has been recognized as a Lynton Award finalist.
The Ernest A. Lynton Award for the Scholarship of Engagement is presented as part of Campus Compact's Impact Awards, which recognize the outstanding work of individuals and institutions in pursuit of the public purposes of higher education.
Awardees will be recognized during a summer event series hosted by Campus Compact and IARSLCE to celebrate the recipients of each organization’s annual awards.
For more information contact:
Molly Leiper, Director of Communications, Campus Compact, [email protected]