August 1, 2025
Community-engaged undergraduate research: Toward groundwork for the environmental citizen suit
Ohio is home to North America’s largest flat-rolled steel plant. Located in Middletown, Ohio, the steel plant has been negatively affecting the surrounding communities for over 125 years.
The 2025 Ohio Environmental Law Conference will highlight a story about undergraduate student researchers and Middletown community members working together to advocate for environmental justice.
Over the years, this partnership has generated quantitative and qualitative research that serves both parties. For Middletown residents, it fuels the basis for a citizen-led lawsuit. For undergraduate students, it lends invaluable real-world insight into the fields of environmental justice and research.
This panel will explore the intersections between community-centered advocacy, undergraduate research, and citizen-initiated lawsuits. With perspectives from a student, professor, Middletown resident, environmental advocates, and attorneys, these panelists will discuss the importance of their respective roles and how, when they come together to effectuate change, the results are powerful.
In community lies unwavering strength. Join us on September 26th, 2025, to learn about how undergraduate research can be an underestimated tool towards justice, and how environmental attorneys initiating citizen-led lawsuits are the last line of defense against regulatory failure.
