EPC Howard E. Woodin Environmental Studies Colloquium Series

“Regional Trash, Urban Harm: Environmental Justice Dialogue in Greater Hartford, CT” a Howard E. Woodin Environmental Studies Colloquium Series talk by Abigail Fisher Williamson, Associate Professor of Political Science and Public Policy and Law at Trinity College.

This talk will introduce the Urban Environmental Justice in Greater Hartford project, a community-engaged research partnership between Trinity College, the Center for Leadership and Justice, and the Stowe Center for Literary Activism. The project aims to encourage informed public dialogue on how historical land use decisions have imposed health and environmental consequences on Hartford’s predominantly Latine and Black residents and to build regional consensus to address challenges. In particular, the talk will introduce initial findings regarding regional trash management and environmental injustice and seek audience feedback on plans for exhibits and regional dialogues on this topic in Spring 2026.

Abigail Fisher Williamson is an Associate Professor of Political Science and Public Policy & Law at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. A scholar of migration, urban politics, and civic engagement, her research examines how white Americans respond to redistributive policies amid racial/ethnic diversity. She is the author of Welcoming New Americans? Local Governments and Immigrant Incorporation (University of Chicago Press, 2018), as well as an edited volume and several peer-reviewed journal articles. Her research has received funding from the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Ruth Landes Memorial Fund, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Most recently, she is a co-PI on the Mellon-funded Urban Environmental Justice in Greater Hartford project, a community-engaged research partnership between Trinity College, Hartford’s Center for Leadership and Justice, and the Stowe Center for Literary Activism. From 2020-2024, she served as Director for Trinity’s Center for Hartford Engagement and Research. She began her academic career as a Research Associate and then Associate Director of the Saguaro Seminar for Civic Engagement at Harvard’s Kennedy School. She holds a Ph.D. and master’s in public policy from Harvard and a BA from Williams College.