Critical Environmental Justice, the Carceral State and the Prison Ecology Project

Gabriel A. Piser, Comparative Studies, Ohio State University.

Paper presented to the Third annual conference of the World-Ecology Research Network 20-21 July, 2017 Binghamton University, Binghamton, New York

Cover: via https://scalawagmagazine.org/2023/06/environmental-racism-prisons/

After defending his dissertation, “Appalachian Anthropocene: Conflict and Subject Formation in aSacrifice Zone”, Gabriel accepted a position with the Prison Ecology Project where he helpedcoordinate multiple projects addressing environmental injustice in the US’s mass incarceration systemwith a national network of collaborators, including currently and previously incarcerated people,community activists, academics, journalists, and students. There is a video of him discussing this work ata panel at the World-Ecology Research Network Conference at Binghamton University in 2017. He thenaccepted a position with the Diversity Center of Northeast Ohio in Cleveland, OH where he designed andfacilitated diversity & inclusion workshops for K-12 educators, administrators, and students andconsulted on policies & procedures, curriculum, and parent and community engagement. Gabriel left thatposition and founded Big Sky Education and Strategy where he initially continued his work around DEIissues in K-12 schools and universities. With the arrival of the COVID pandemic and the closure ofmost schools, he and his colleagues pivoted to providing remote workshops and consultation for various organizationsincluding working with Bennington College to execute a project asset-mapping the regional foodsystem (his personal gratitude to CS grad Brian Murphy for this connection) and a series of DEI workshops for theAssociation of Maine Archives and Museums. Beginning in 2021, Gabriel accepted his current position asthe Director of Community Initiatives at Indiana University’s Center for Rural Engagement where heserves as the PI on a small number of state-wide projects and manages a team of community liaisons. He serves as PI on a public health project addressing disparities in COVID-related health outcomes in forthe Hispanic/Latinx community in a rural Indiana county and leads the creation of a report assessingthe feasibility of a statewide “Heritage Trail” highlighting underrepresented histories across the state.Additionally, the team he supervises supports a wide range of projects addressing issues in rural Indianaspanning health, arts and culture, sustainability, and more. Details on that work are cataloged on theCRE’s website.