{"id":26037,"date":"2024-10-07T08:26:31","date_gmt":"2024-10-07T08:26:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/160-news\/?p=26037"},"modified":"2026-02-25T16:08:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T16:08:15","slug":"the-ripple-effect-of-redlining","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/2024\/10\/the-ripple-effect-of-redlining\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ripple Effect of Redlining\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Alexandra McLaughlin \u201916<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cWe wrote research proposals at the beginning of the summer. It was great practice for professional writing.\u201d \u2014<\/span>Georgia Akins \u201926 <\/b><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

If water is considered an amenity, are some people benefiting while others bear the risks? This question drives the summer research of <\/span>Environmental Studies Professor Anika Bratt<\/b> and her four students.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though redlining ended decades ago, the effects of these discriminatory practices still influence urban environments, from tree cover to air pollution. However, the connection between redlining and water quality remains underexplored\u2014a gap Prof. Bratt and her team aim to address.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWater has direct implications for human health and the environment,\u201d said <\/span>Ava Rao \u201925 <\/b>(Chapel Hill, N.C.)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This summer, the team investigated whether harmful algal blooms are more common in redlined neighborhoods by surveying Twin Cities bodies of water for toxins produced by these algae. So far, some dogs have died from ingesting the contaminated water. As water temperatures rise due to climate change, this issue could worsen. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They also examined heavy metals in sediments, analyzing samples to see if redlined areas have higher levels of cadmium and mercury, possibly due to more industry and freeways.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students developed sub-projects based on their interests. \u201cWe wrote research proposals at the beginning of the summer,\u201d said <\/span>Georgia Akins \u201926 <\/b>(Chicago and Atlanta). \u201cIt was great practice for professional writing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The team visited 28 sites over three weeks, sampling lakes and ponds. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOccasionally, people ask what we\u2019re doing, and we try to engage with them,\u201d Prof. Bratt said. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sophie Carpenter \u201925 <\/b>(Denver) added, \u201cI love explaining our work and its importance. It\u2019s an opportunity to build on science that supports policy and advocacy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The students also shared their experiences on TikTok, including fieldwork \u201cfit checks.\u201d When entering a body of water, they wore waders\u2014waterproof overalls with boots attached to them. These came in handy when encountering quicksand. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Akins recalled, \u201cNobody lost shoes, but quicksand is very real.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rao added, \u201cWe\u2019re always around to pull each other out.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the lab, they processed sediment samples, performing chemical analyses or sending samples to other labs.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis project has been a sampler of different research types\u2014fieldwork, lab work, statistics, and computer work,\u201d Akins said. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The research continues this fall, with the team analyzing heavy metals in sediments. They plan to publish their findings and possibly attend a conference. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re fortunate to have had this opportunity,\u201d Akins said. \u201cAnika Bratt has been a great PI, very helpful and supportive of our interests.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe wants to see us succeed,\u201d <\/span>Ollie Branch \u201925 <\/b>(Edina, Minn.) added. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Bratt emphasized, \u201cI couldn\u2019t do this research without these four students. As a student, you are a really important resource.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Prof. Anika Bratt and her students are investigating how historic redlining impacts water quality in the Twin Cities today.\u00a0<\/p>","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":26039,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[49],"class_list":["post-26037","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","tag-environmental-studies","mediatype-articles"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"fields":{"article_type":[8],"flickr_photoset_id":"","youtube_id":"","square_thumbnail":false,"press_photos":false,"story_title":"","story_caption":"","rotations":false,"maps":false,"marker_title":"","marker_text":"","geographic_location":false,"feature_embed":"","custom_link_url":"","news_icon_name":"","image_options":false,"main_feature_story":"","custom_image":false,"custom_feature_title":"","custom_feature_caption":"","custom_markup":"","custom_markup_link":"","custom_markup_title":"","custom_markup_caption":"","byline":"","post_thumbnail_style":"default","press_downloads":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26037"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26037\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29689,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26037\/revisions\/29689"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}