Sacoby Wilson

Sacoby Wilson, Ph.D., is an environmental health scientist and environmental justice advocate whose work integrates scholarship, science and community engagement to investigate and confront how industrial practices, pollution and climate change disproportionately affect the health of people of color and residents of low-income neighborhoods. He also continuously works to “INpower” communities to achieve justice.  

A professor in the Department of Global, Environmental and Occupational Health at the University of Maryland School of Public Health, Dr. Wilson founded and directs The Health, Environmental and Economic Justice (T.H.E. EJ) Lab. His work spans exposure science, environmental health disparities, community-engaged research, air and water quality, the built environment, industrial animal production and climate change. He collaborates with grassroots groups, health practitioners, agencies and policymakers to spotlight hazards and inequities in planning, zoning and development practices that harm the health of low-wealth frontline and fenceline communities located near polluting facilities.

His research has documented air pollution from industrial hog farms in the Carolinas, inadequate sewer and water infrastructure in underserved Black neighborhoods, and cumulative pollution burdens in Maryland’s industrial corridors and the Chesapeake Bay region.

A pioneer in community science, Dr. Wilson co-developed hyperlocal air quality monitoring networks to measure pollutants in overburdened communities and developed mapping tools such as the Maryland Environmental Justice Screening Tool (MD EJSCREEN) and Mid-Atlantic EJSCREEN to visualize environmental justice scores at the census tract level. By involving residents directly in data collection, analysis and translation, his work has advanced environmental justice science, strengthened advocacy for air quality standards and influenced state and federal policy.

In 2023, Dr. Wilson founded the nonprofit Center for Engagement, Environmental Justice and Health INpowering Communities (CEEJH INC) to expand on his university-based work. Today, CEEJH INC is a national leader in addressing environmental inequities through advocacy, annual summits, education and training programs, and engagement with policymakers.