Lynesia with her poster at the 2024 AGU Annual Meeting in Washington, DC
Our February 2025 GEOS spotlights turns back to our amazing students here in the Department of Geosciences. This month we're excited to feature Lynesia Denson, who is in the second semester of the Geosciences M.S. program concentrating in geography. Learn more about Lynesia's work as one of the department's Community-Soil-Air-Water Fellows and her commitment to grassroots environmental justice research and activism in our Q&A below!
Where are you from originally?
I was born in Atlanta, but I hail from Clayton County.
Where did you go to school before coming to GSU?
I attended Morrow High School earning my Career, Technical, and Agricultural Education (CTAE) certification in Marketing and Management. I went on to earn my Bachelor of Science in Public Policy with a concentration in Public Management and Governance from GSU’s Andrew Young School of Public Studies.
What year in school are you?
I am in my first year of the Master of Science in Geosciences program.
What’s your major/concentration?
I am concentrating in geography, taking classes across both environmental science and urban studies.
Which class has been your favorite to take in the Department of Geosciences?
My favorite class so far has been Environmental Justice (EJ) taught by Dr. Richard Milligan. We explored the history and institutionalization of the EJ movement, addressed legal barriers to confronting and remedying environmental injustice, and identified the structures in place that contribute to patterns of uneven exposure to hazardous wastes. However, this semester I am most excited about Digital Cartography with my advisor Dr. Taylor Shelton. I value the creativity involved in mapmaking and exercising my critical thinking skills to interpret and evaluate social and spatial inequalities. I foresee GIS as an important skill in both my professional and advocacy toolkit.
What is your favorite thing about being a GEOS major at GSU?
My favorite thing about being a GEOS major at GSU is the overall sense of community in the department and camaraderie amongst my peers. However, what drew me into the program is the Community-Soil-Air-Water (CSAW) fellowship that facilitates interdisciplinary collaboration and community-based research projects. I recognize that academic research is traditionally extractive in nature, so I enjoy how our program shifts the learning experience to something more collaborative and community oriented. I never intended to be a desk bound academic, so I appreciate the opportunity to get out of the classroom, cultivate meaningful connections with our community fellows and partnering organizations. The encouragement and mentorship from community partners like activists Opal Baker of Forward Together East Point or Ms. Renee Cail of Citizens for a Healthy and Safe Environment has been integral to my development as a scholar and advocate.
Tell us a bit about what you’ve been working on while you’ve been here at GSU…
I am working with CSAW community fellows Alfred Tucker and Opal Baker with the Atlanta Watershed Learning Network (AWLN) Alumni group to support the alumni and present cohort in completing or expanding on champion projects that tackle water related issues in the Atlanta area. This entails making newsletters, attending monthly meetings, and developing educational material and learning opportunities. Our latest and most exciting effort is organizing our first symposium proposed for Summer 2025. For more information about our group, please visit https://awlngroup.org/about, a website designed by GEOS alumna Angelique Willis.
Moreover, as a researcher I am interested in how the boom in e-commerce and warehousing industries displays uneven development patterns around racially and ethnically marginalized communities. The traffic associated with Clayton County’s robust logistics economy increases resident exposure to nitrogen dioxide and other particulate matters. I plan to use demographic and socioeconomic data trends, warehousing locations, and air monitoring sites to offer a social spatial analysis of traffic related exposure of Clayton neighborhoods in proximity to warehousing facilities. However, this is just the first step of a larger effort to explain Clayton County’s environmental circumstances. I plan to present my early findings at the Atlanta Studies Symposium this spring and the Environmental Justice and Climate Protection Conference this summer.
What are you planning to do after GSU and how do you think your GEOS degree has prepared you for that?
After graduation, I plan to pick up with the Clayton County Environmental Initiative Group to further develop communications and foster community engagement regarding the environmental issues addressed in my thesis like flooding and air quality. I hope to secure employment in urban planning, community development or environmental education. However, I largely look forward to earning my PhD in Urban Planning and Environmental Policy. GSU Geosciences has prepared me for each of these pathways through courses rooted in critical thinking, anti-racist frameworks and mixed method research techniques that I can apply to issues relevant to communities. In addition to CSAW initiatives, the department has also supported my professional development by encouraging me to attend and present at conferences. So far, I have attended SEDAAG, AGU, and NABG. However, I most look forward to developing my community outreach skills by working with activists like Columbus Ward of the Peoplestown community and Gwen Smith of CHARRS on air quality issues in Atlanta. Overall, with the support of my advisor and CSAW learning ecosystem, I am confident in my ability to excel academically and professionally.