Photo by | Sebastian Alejandro Echeverri
It takes a team of researchers, creatives, partners, spiders and community participants to make a public science project like this work! Thank you for your participation and enthusiasm that help fuel this research and enable us to build a unique web of air quality monitors in the places we live!
Research team
Dr. Chris Hawn
(they/them)
NCEJN Co-Director of Research and Education
Dr. Chris Hawn is NCEJN’s Co-Director of Research and Education. They are an environmental scientist who specializes in making science accessible to all. Growing up in the desert, their love of the environment is rooted in the southwest and blossomed in the southeast. They received their Ph.D. in zoology at NC State in 2015. Since then they’ve been learning grassroots organizing skills to apply to the field of public science with the vision of science that supports accessible and liberated futures.
If you’re ever looking for Chris, you’ll probably find them making friends with a spider, practicing archery, or boppin around with their toddler, spouse, and dog.
Cherrel Manley
(she/her)
NCEJN Research Assistant, Research & Education
Cherrel is a PhD student studying environmental epidemiology at UNC-Chapel Hill. Her research focuses on exposure to environmental contaminants during pregnancy and impacts on pregnancy outcomes, specifically in rural and agricultural settings. She has served as an EJ Summit coordinator since 2019 and now works with Dr. Hawn as a research assistant. She is excited to continue learning about community-driven approaches for addressing environmental justice issues, as well as the ways in which research may support this work. Outside of work, Cherrel enjoys quality time with her kitties and spending time outdoors.
Grass spider
Agelenopsis
Web weaver
Just your friendly neighborhood spider! I build a web that catches bugs and contaminants. There is an energetic cost for me every time I build a web, so I would appreciate it if you fed me something in between your web collections. I always love a good fly, but maybe you can watch the leftovers in my web to see my favorite prey.
Project Alumni
Project support
Project collaborators
