In July 2025, BMI hosted the Summer Institute on Environmental Justice at the University of Illinois Chicago. This convening brought together a new cohort of BMI Fellows, who are conducting work around environmental justice issues affecting Black people and communities within the Midwest and Rust Belt regions of the United States for a week-long series of discussions, presentations, and workshops with leading figures in the field.

In alignment with environmental sociologist and Institute facilitator David Pellow, we conceive of environmental racism as a “form of violent control over bodies, space, and knowledge systems.” Accordingly, we define the parameters of the environmental justice issues applicants might propose to address broadly—from urban agriculture, toxic emissions, natural disasters, and climate change to carcerality, housing instability, residential segregation, community health and wellness, and beyond.