Na'Taki Osborne Jelks

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Na'Taki Osborne Jelks
Na'Taki Osborne Jelks, July 2019.
Born
Walnut Grove, Mississippi, US
Alma mater
AwardsChampion of Change (2014)
Scientific career
FieldsEnvironmental justice, urban watersheds, environmental youth education
InstitutionsSpelman College
ThesisCombined Environmental and Social Stressors in Northwest Atlanta's Proctor Creek Watershed: An Exploration of Expert Data and Local Knowledge (2016)
Doctoral advisorChristine Stauber [Wikidata]

Na'Taki Osborne Jelks is an American environmental scientist. She is an assistant professor of environmental and health sciences at Spelman College, and a visiting professor of public health at Agnes Scott College. She is known for her activism in environmental justice and urban sustainability, for which she was named a Champion of Change by the White House in 2014.

Education and career[edit]

Jelks was born in Walnut Grove, Mississippi; her family later moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana.[1] She received her BS from Spelman College, her master's of public health in environmental and occupational health from Emory University, and her PhD from the School of Public Health at Georgia State University.[2] Her PhD was awarded in 2016, for a thesis titled Combined Environmental and Social Stressors in Northwest Atlanta's Proctor Creek Watershed: An Exploration of Expert Data and Local Knowledge. Jelk's doctoral advisor was Christine Stauber [Wikidata].[3] Her scholarship is focused on community engagement to identify environmental stressors in urban watersheds.[4][5]

Environmental justice leadership[edit]

In 2001, Jelks co-founded the Atlanta Earth Tomorrow® Program, a National Wildlife Federation program that connects urban youth to nature, civic engagement, and leadership development.

She is the board chairperson for the West Atlanta Watershed Alliance, an organization that she helped found.[6][1]

She is the co-chair of the Proctor Creek Stewardship Council, a grassroots organization focused on restoring the ecological health of the Proctor Creek Watershed in west Atlanta.

She serves on the Boards of Directors of the Citizen Science Association.

In 2018, Jelks was named a member of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Environmental Justice Advisory Committee (NEJAC). She is also the manager for Community and Leadership Development Programs for the National Wildlife Federation.[7]

Jelks' environmental activism has been featured in People[8] and The New York Times.[9]

Awards and honors[edit]

  • 2014: White House Champions of Change[10]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Thompson, Sarah (October 21, 2016). "Chapter Six: An Ecologically Beloved Community (An Interview with Na'Taki Osborne Jelks". In Myers, Ched (ed.). Watershed Discipleship: Reinhabiting Bioregional Faith and Practice. Wipf and Stock Publishers. pp. 102–120. ISBN 978-1-4982-8077-8.
  2. ^ "Faculty Profile | Na'Taki Osborne Jelks, PhD, C'95". Spelman College. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  3. ^ Osborne Jelks, Na'Taki (2016). Combined Environmental and Social Stressors in Northwest Atlanta's Proctor Creek Watershed: An Exploration of Expert Data and Local Knowledge (PhD thesis). Georgia State University. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  4. ^ Osborne Jelks, Na’Taki; Hawthorne, Timothy L.; Dai, Dajun; Fuller, Christina H.; Stauber, Christine (2018). "Mapping the Hidden Hazards: Community-Led Spatial Data Collection of Street-Level Environmental Stressors in a Degraded, Urban Watershed". International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 15 (4): 825. doi:10.3390/ijerph15040825. PMC 5923867. PMID 29690570.
  5. ^ Jennings, Viniece; Baptiste, April Karen; Osborne Jelks, Na’Taki; Skeete, Renée (2017). "Urban Green Space and the Pursuit of Health Equity in Parts of the United States". International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 14 (11): 1432. doi:10.3390/ijerph14111432. PMC 5708071. PMID 29165367.
  6. ^ "About". West Atlanta Watershed Alliance. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
  7. ^ "Na'Taki Osborne Jelks | Environmental Leadership Program". elpnet.org. Retrieved June 12, 2020.[permanent dead link]
  8. ^ Keating, Caitlin (April 16, 2020). "Activist Whose Mom Got Sick in 'Cancer Alley' Fights for 'Healthy Environments' for All". PEOPLE.com. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  9. ^ Toney, Heather McTeer (July 25, 2019). "Opinion | Black Women Are Leaders in the Climate Movement". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  10. ^ "Na'taki Osborne Jelks". The White House. Retrieved June 10, 2020.

External links[edit]

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