Faculty

Profile

Ana is an Assistant Professor of Professional Practice in the Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management graduate program at the Milano School of Policy, Management, and Environment. She also serves as the Associate Director of the Tishman Environment & Design Center  (TEDC) at The New School. 

Ana's research and professional practice focuses on environmental and climate justice. She works directly with EJ organizations and coalitions to support the advancement of environmental justice. Ana works on a range of related issues including environmental justice policies, climate justice and renewable energy policies, land use and zoning tools for environmental justice, zero waste systems, cumulative impacts, and mitigation strategies tied to goods movement. Ana's professional practice is based primarily in community engaged scholarship and critical participatory action research. Her ongoing work with environmental justice activists in Newark, New Jersey was featured in the documentary film, Sacrifice Zones. 

Ana currently serves as the Co-PI for a national Environmental Justice Movement Fellowship program housed at the Tishman Environment and Design Center and co-led by Professor Sujatha Jesudason. This Fellowship program was informed by a national landscape assessment of the EJ movement entitled, Environmental Justice Movement: Priorities, Strategies and Just Transitions.  She also led a research team at the Tishman Center in partnership with the Building Equity and Alignment for Impact to explore the misalignment of funding and priorities between environmental grantmakers and grassroots environmental justice organizations in the Midwest and Gulf South regions. The report, Environmental Justice and Philanthropy: Challenges and Opportunities for Alignment, revealed that only 1% of environmental grants are directed to environmental justice organizations in the two regions.

Ana's recent research focuses on efforts to advance national, state and local environmental justice policies. She released a report, "Local Policies for Environmental Justice: A National Scan" with the Natural Resources Defense Council and several environmental justice organizations in Chicago that highlight local land use policies advocated by EJ activists. Ana helped to develop and pass a model Environmental Justice and Cumulative Impacts Ordinance in Newark, New Jersey and recently participated in a coalition of EJ advocates on the passage of a landmark Environmental Justice & Cumulative Impacts bill (S232) in the New Jersey legislature. Ana also helped to develop and served as an inaugural signatory to the Equitable and Just National Climate Platform and was recently appointed by Mayor DeBlasio to the fourth New York City Panel on Climate Change.

Ana's research extends to zero waste, the circular economy and anti-incineration policies.  She led research on the incinerator industry, in a paper released by the Tishman Environment and Design Center, called "U.S. Municipal Sold Waste Incinerators: A Failing Industry" which points to the economic and environmental justice implications of the incineration industry. The report found that the majority of US MSW incinerators are located in EJ communities and more than 4 million people are exposed to pollution emanating from these aging facilities. She also published a book chapter on best practices for organics diversion in New York City "Smarter New York City: How City Agencies Innovate" and an article related to the dangers of co-incineration in municipal zero waste or renewable energy policies. Her recent publication examines the environmental justice implications of the promotion of waste incineration and other biomass technologies in national climate mitigation strategies. Ana helped organize and host the Conference, Design, Justice and Zero Waste: Pathways to a Circular Economy with the Tishman Center and the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) in 2018.

Prior to joining The New School, Ana served as the Environmental Justice and Planning Director for the Ironbound Community Corporation (ICC) in her hometown of Newark, New Jersey. At ICC she oversaw a wide range of environmental justice, community development, and planning projects.  She completed her Ph.D. in Urban Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. She received her Master’s degree from Brown University in Environmental Studies and has an undergraduate degree in Environmental & Evolutionary Biology as well as Environmental Studies from Dartmouth College. She currently serves as the Co-Chair of the Passaic River Superfund Community Advisory Group, a steering committee member of the Coalition for Healthy Ports and the national Moving Forward Network. She serves on the Board of Trustees for the Victoria Foundation, Ironbound Community Corporation, the New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance and the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA).

Degrees Held

PhD, Urban Planning and Public Policy,
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
New Brunwsick, NJ

MA, Environmental Studies,
Brown University,
Providence, RI

BA, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, and Environmental Studies
Dartmouth College,
Hanover, NH

Professional Affiliation

• Fourth New York City Panel on Climate Change, appointed, 2020-2023
• Equitable and Justice National Climate Platform, Inaugural signatory
• Associate Editor, Environmental Justice Journal
• Ironbound Community Corporation, Board of Trustee
• New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance, Vice-Chair, Board of Trustee
• Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), Co-Chair, Board of Trustee
• Victoria Foundation, Board of Trustee
• Passaic River Superfund Community Advisory Group, Co-Chair
• Coalition for Healthy Ports, member
• Moving Forward Network, member

Recent Publications

Book Chapters

• Baptista, A., Matsuoka, M., & Raphael, C. (Forthcoming), Urban and Regional Planning. In C. Raphael & M. Matsuoka, Community-engaged research for environmental justice. Berkeley, CA: University of California - Luminos Press.

• Baptista, A. (Forthcoming) Solidarity. In Szeman, I. and Wenzel, J., “Energized: Keywords for a New Politics of Energy and Environment.” West Virginia, VA: West Virginia University Press.

• Baptista, Ana I. “Introduction: Radical Resistance and Future Imaginaries for Environmental Justice”  in The World We Need” Ed. Audrea Lim, New York: The New Press, April 2021. 

• Baptista, Ana I. "The Evolution of the Environmental Justice Movement: Trans-Local Voices for Systemic Transformations" in Globalism and Localization in the Context of the Ecological and Social Crisis. Ed. Jeanine M. Canty. New York: Routledge, April 2019.

• Ramirez, I., Baptista, A., Lee, J., Traverso-Krejcarek, A. Santos, A. Fighting for Urban Environmental Health Justice in Southside (Los Sures) Williamsburg, Brooklyn: A Community Engaged Pilot Study. In Handbook of Global Urban Health. New York: Routledge, 2019. 

• Baptista, Ana I. "Innovations for Sustainability via New York City's Residential Curbside Organic Waste Collection Program: Pathways to Zero Waste" in Smarter New York City: How City Agencies Innovate. Ed. André Corrêa d'Almeida. New York: Columbia University Press, 2018.

• Baptista, A. (2018), Chapter 20: Environmental Justice. In Complete Guide to Planning in New Jersey, 4th Edition. New Jersey Chapter, American Planning Association.

• Baptista, Ana I. "Finding Hope at the Margins: A Journey of Environmental Justice." Ecological and Social Healing: Multicultural Women's Voices. Ed. Jeanine M. Canty. New York: Routledge, 2017. 

Journal Articles

• Baptista, Ana I. March 2021.  Zoning, Land Use, and Local Policies for Environmental Justice, Zoning Practice, American Planning Association. 

• Ji, N., Fang, M., Baptista, A., Cepeda, C., Greenberg, M., Mincey, I. C., ... & Laumbach, R. J. (2021). Exposure to traffic-related air pollution and changes in exhaled nitric oxide and DNA methylation in arginase and nitric oxide synthase in children with asthma. Environmental Health, 20(1), 1-11.

• Baptista, Ana Isabel and Amarnath, Kumar.  Garbage, Power, and Environmental Justice: The Clean Power Plan Rule, Wm. & Mary Envtl. L. & Pol'y Rev, 2016, 41, 403 

• Chang Ho Yu, Zhi-Hua (Tina) Fan, Paul J. Lioy , Ana Baptista, Molly Greenberg, Robert Laumbach, A Mobile Monitoring Approach to Characterize Spatial and Temporal Variation in Traffic-Related Air Pollutants in an Urban Community. Atmospheric Environment, September  2016

• Laumbach, Robert J., Ana Baptista, Nancy Fiedler, Clarimel Cepeda, Zhi-Hua Fan, Brian Pavilonis, Pamela Ohman-Strickland, and Howard Kipen. Cumulative Impacts Of Traffic Pollutants And Psychosocial Stress On Childhood Asthma Exacerbation In An Urban Community. In C105. Pollution Effects, pp. A5098-A5098. American Thoracic Society, 2013.

Public Articles

• Coronavirus Crisis Demands Environmental Justice Response. Op Ed, May 19, 2020, New Jersey Spotlight. 

• Is Burning Trash a Good Way to Handle It? Waste Incineration in 5 Charts, The Conversation, June 20, 2019

• NJ’s Next Governor Should Champion Environmental Justice. Op-Ed New Jersey Spotlight, October 12, 2017. 

• Garbage In, Garbage Out: Incinerating Trash Is Not An Effective Way To Protect The Climate Or Reduce Waste. The Conversation, February 2018.

Reports

• Environmental Justice and Philanthropy: Challenges and Opportunities for Alignment: Midwest and Gulf South Case Studies. March 2020, Tishman Environment and Design Center

• Environmental Justice Movement: Priorities, Strategies and Just Transitions. May 2019, Tishman Environment and Design Center

• U.S. Municipal Solid Waste Incinerators: An Industry in Decline, May 21, 2019, Tishman Environment & Design Center 

• Local Policies for Environmental Justice: A National Scan, February 2019, Tishman Environment & Design Center 

Performances and Appearances

Environmental Justice Policies

• Repairing an Environmental ‘Legacy of Racism’: What the City’s Next Leaders Must Do. Urban Matters, The Center for New York City Affairs. February 17, 2021

• Covid-19 and Environmental Justice: An Agenda for New York’s Next Mayor. Urban Matters, The Center for New York City Affairs. February 10, 2021

• New Jersey Governor Signs Law Aimed at Protecting Poor from Pollution. September 18, 2020, Reuters, by, Maria Caspani

• Environmental Justice Leaders Hail $17 Million in House Bill. Bloomberg Law, Environment & Energy Report. July 28, 2020, By Gregory Henderson. 

• Environmental Justice and Clean Energy in New Jersey. July 2, 2020, NJ Spotlight Roundtable

• Fighting for a Just Covid-19 Response. Derrick Jackson, Environmental Health News, April 3, 2020.

• Toxic Injustices: Priority for Abused Communities Must Pervade Every Aspect of a Green New Deal. Derrick Z. Jackson, The American Prospect, December 5, 2019

• Justice For All? American Planning Association, Adina Solomon, October 2019

• Which Cities Have Concrete Plans for Environmental Justice, CityLab, Nicole Javorsky, May 7, 2019

• Does Your City Employ Environmental Justice Best Practices  ColorLines, Ayana Byrd, May 14, 2019

Zero Waste and Anti-Incineration

• Five Things You Should Know About the Impact of Burning Trash, June 28, 2019, Green Biz Journal. 

• Is Burning Trash a Good Way to Dispose of It? Waste Incineration in Charts, PBS News House, June 23, 2019

• Revealed: 1.6 Million Americans Live Near the Most Polluting Incinerators, The Guardian, Oliver Milman, May 21, 2019

• Can We Stop Burning Garbage And Calling It Renewable, Food and Water Watch, July 24, 2018

• To Meet Waste Goals, NYC Needs to Scrap How it Thinks About Garbage, Cole Rosengren, City Limits, May 22, 2015

Goods Movement

• The invisible hazard afflicting thousands of schools, The Center for Public Integrity, Jamie Smith Hopkins, February 20, 2017

• How the NY/NJ Port Authority Misspent Millions in Federal Money Meant to Cut Air Pollution, ProPublica, Joaquin Sapien, May 23, 2016

• Hell on Wheels: Port Authority's Broken Promise Is Choking Newark's Kids, The Village Voice, Max Rivlin-Nadler, May 3, 2016

• Why Did Port Authority Scale Back Its Truck Emissions Program? WNYC, May 3, 2016

Passaic River Superfund

• Activists Eye a Superfund Reboot Under Biden With a Focus on Environmental Justice and Climate Change. Inside Climate News. December 28, 2020, by David Hademeyer and Lise Olsen.

• We've been forgotten: In Newark, N.J. a Toxic Superfund Site Faces Growing Climate Threats. October 1, 2020, NBC News, by Erik Ortiz

• The Swap-a-Fish Program That Traded Tilapia for Seafood Contaminated by Agent Orange, AtlasObscura, Reina Gattuso, March 15, 2019

• Why is There Agent Orange in Newark, RT News America, December 12, 2018

• Could Trump Administration Undo Toxic Passaic River Fix? Nancy Solomon, WNYC, January 13, 2017

• Can the EPA clean up one of America’s most toxic rivers? Washington Post, B. Dennis, August 19, 2016

• Passaic River is Finally Getting a Cleanup - Partially, Rebeca Ibarra, WNYC, March 4, 2016

Research Interests

Environmental justice, climate justice, land use, zoning and planning approaches to environmental justice, zero waste and anti-incineration, air pollution monitoring and permitting, global goods movement, critical participatory action research, community based deliberative planning practices, cumulative impacts, superfund and brownfields policies

Awards And Honors

• New Jersey Governor’s Richard J. Sullivan Environmental Excellence Award, 2020

• US EPA, Environmental Champions Award, New York, May 2017. 

• Sister Carol Johnston Service Award, Ironbound Community Corporation, October 2016 

• US EPA, Citizen's Excellence in Community Involvement Award, Passaic River Superfund Community Advisory Group, May 2015

• National Award for Smart Growth Achievement, US EPA, Plazas, Parks and Public Spaces: Newark Riverfront Park, April 2015