Scholarship | Jennie Perey Saxe, Ph.D.

Because research activity is a small part of my position, I aim to maximize opportunities to connect my scholarship with my teaching and service activity in a way that aligns with my professional experience. Focusing my scholarship on societal aspects of sustainability allows me to explore the environmental justice and stakeholder engagement topics I weave into my courses.

Some of my recent scholarship includes:

A transportation equity project funded by the US Department of Transportation through the Morgan State University-led SMARTER Center.
A confirmation of the existence of rural environmental justice concerns, by looking through the lens of the locations of 165 prisons in 10 US states (Saxe, 2022; link to accepted manuscript)

An argument for alignment of correctional vocational education with the needs of the renewable energy sector (Saxe et al., 2021; link to accepted manuscript)
There are some natural connections between recidivism reduction programs included in the First Step Act and community-focused renewable energy proposals outlined in the Green New Deal

An analysis of the impact of considering environmental justice (using US EPA EJSCREEN indicators) in siting of solar biochar production facilities (Saxe et al., 2019; link to accepted manuscript)

graph showing increasing number of publications on biochar and biochar as a sustainable material — Biochar is hot: the number of publications on the topic has exploded over the past decade. Biochar is often also billed as sustainable. But how do we know? What happens when you incorporate environmental justice as a proxy for sustainability? Is biochar part of a just energy transition, or is it a bust in terms of EJ impacts?

A chapter exploring approaches to improving communication around residential energy efficiency (EE), particularly for renters in urban areas for the financial and climate benefits of EE (Saxe, 2021)

graph showing relationship between cities' poverty levels and percent of population paying 35% of more of their income to rent — Cities with higher poverty levels tend to have a higher percent of their population paying over 35% of their income to rent. Energy efficiency in rental units could help ease financial burdens for renter populations.

A report for the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) compiling alternate uses for scrap tires (in conjunction with an undergraduate DENIN Scholar) and proposing ecoindustrial parks focused on scrap tire recovery

a flow chart of a theoretical ecoindustrial park centered on scrap tire pyrolysis — *Could an ecoindustrial park, centered on scrap tire pyrolysis be a sustainable solution for scrap tires? The components of scrap tires could be separated and converted into valuable products.*

An ASEE paper (Saxe, 2021) describing a course developed to foster effective, empathetic communication by civil and environmental engineers, a need identified in ASCE’s Third Edition of the Civil Engineering Body of Knowledge (CEBOK3). This work was presented at the Spring 2021 ASEE Mid-Atlantic Conference (begin at the 19-minute mark).

a figure showing building blocks of communication — *Communicating with Stakeholders in Engineering (CIEG411) is organized around themes to address both cognitive and affective domains.*

A multi-year study on the impact of this communication class for civil engineering students on self-perceived communication proficiency (presented at the ASEE Mid-Atlantic fall 2023 conference).

In addition to communicating my scholarship in writing, I enjoy reaching people through presentations, especially when the topic is communication. I spoke with the MIT Water Policy Club in April 2021 about the importance of effective communication to develop a shared understanding of water issues.