Professor Roberts-Semple to Be Honored with Special Award

Dr. Dawn Roberts-Semple, associate professor in the Department of Earth and Physical Sciences, has been selected to receive a Sandi Cooper Award, for which she graciously mentions a team of participants in her community work.

“Recipients of the Sandi Cooper Awards are associate professors chosen by the CUNY Academy from a large pool of nominees across all CUNY campuses in recognition of outstanding research in the humanities or sciences, including the social and life sciences.”

Dr. Roberts-Semple’s research addresses major environmental and public health issues linked to air pollution and climate factors. She describes her work as promoting student and community engagement in studying the influence of meteorological parameters on air pollution concentrations and their cumulative impacts on respiratory public health.

The busy scholar, who specializes in environmental science, air quality monitoring, and public health, has been awarded grants from federal agencies including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the U.S. Forest Service, and the Agency for International Development (USAID). As principal investigator for community-based participatory research (CBPR) in Southeast Queens, she has led major projects in neighborhoods disproportionately exposed to solid waste, vehicular traffic, and aircraft emissions. She is also becoming an in-demand speaker/presenter in New York City and beyond.

“My work demonstrates that symptoms of poor air quality are predictors of poor health outcomes,” Professor Roberts-Semple explained. “This kind of research is critical because climate change mitigation policies can have significant co-benefits for air quality; however, the consequences of such policies have rarely been evaluated in frontline communities such as those in Southeast Queens that experience substantial air pollution and climate-related health effects. Since environmental justice communities in New York have not been given the opportunity to participate in problem-solving and decision-making processes that negatively affect them, CBPR bridges this gap.”

Roberts-Semple is grateful for the recognition of her work and commitment to her students in this season of her career.

“At a time when science is faced with unprecedented funding cuts in the U.S., CUNY recognizes that academic research is essential in meeting the needs of society,” the professor noted. “Faculty and students joined Southeast Queens residents through community-based participatory research to address the harm caused by toxic emissions and other environmental stressors. This award is for everyone who worked to improve quality of life through environmental science research. Since this kind of success is never achieved alone, it must be shared.”

She says the success of her research is made possible through a multidisciplinary team of collaborators, including Luz Guel Salazar, Maida Galvez, and Sarah Evans of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; Dr. Yuan Gao of Rutgers University; Dr. Sacoby Wilson of the University of Maryland; Prof. Rebecca Bratspies of the CUNY School of Law/Center for Urban Environmental Reform; Dr. Jin Shin of CUNY Medgar Evers; and members of the Southeast Queens community, led by Andrea Scarborough and Walter Dogan.

 “We at York are delighted that Professor Roberts-Semple is being honored with this award,” said Dr. Derrick Brazill, provost and vice president of Academic Affairs. “ It recognizes not only her exceptional scholarship but also her commitment to democratizing scientific research by partnering with local residents to collect and analyze the air quality data that affects their daily lives. We are proud of her work in bridging the gap between the Academy and the community.”

The CUNY-founded Sandi Cooper Awards will be presented on Friday, February 6 at 1 p.m. at the CUNY Graduate Center.

Learn more about Dr. Roberts-Semple’s research