Annual Student Research Poster Session

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  Longboard classification using Machine Learning

  Tuan (Kevin) Le, Evans Sajtar, and McKenzie Lamb

  There are several techniques a rider can choose from that they can perform being distributed along the long-board ride. This research aims to create a machine-learning model that can efficiently classify these techniques at different periods of time using raw acceleration data. This paper presents the complete workflow of the application. This application involves analytical geometry, multidimensional calculus, and linear algebra and can be used to visualize and normalize time-invariant object paths. This model focuses on displacement data calculated from raw acceleration data and gyro sensor data from a smartphone application called "Physics Toolbox Sensor Suite". We extracted features from each dynamic window of time in the displacement data and then fed them into machine learning algorithms with various statistical features, including supervised learning classifiers and Long short-term memory. We found that the Decision Tree with post-pruning produces a performance 93.4%, and the Random Forest produces a performance 96.8%. Although Decision Tree works faster than Random Forest, we ultimately used Random Forest classifier in our application, since the application does not perform prediction and classification in real-time.

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  Livening Beyond Homeless Inc. Outdoor Space

  Olivia Lockette

  I served at Beyond Homeless Inc. womens' and childrens' shelter as my volunteer placement for the Bonner scholarship, and found a canvas for environmental impact for my practicum. While Beyond Homeless is far more than an assignment to me, this project is an effort to uncover the many underlying environmental challenges Putnam County faces as well as the community outside of DePauw University. While serving the homeless shelter, I attended our private University just two blocks away and straddled two vastly different worlds weekly. I found myself facing the complications between different socioeconomic statuses, privileges, experiences and aspirations. Beyond Homeless supplemented my DePauw education with real life -- outside of my classroom, away from my greek house, and off campus. I learned and lived pieces of these womens' life and found a place I could work to improve the community: by building garden beds to produce fresh produce without needing transportation, money or time. This project includes the construction of two garden beds as well as a complimentary mural on the side of the shed that stands in the shelter's green space. By giving these women and their children a little more accessibility, the project aims to address food desserts, the price of nutrition and the populations that are most affected surrounding the Greencastle community.

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  Modeling Light for Platanus Occidentalis (American Sycamore) Trees in the DePauw Quarry

  Grace Lucchesi, Beth Wilkerson, Quincie Simmons, and Dana Dudle

  Platanus Occidentalis, characterized by shedding bark and ball-shaped seed pods, is native to much of the mid-southeastern US, and is commonly used as an ornamental tree. Individuals growing in the quarry of DePauw’s Nature Park are often small, discolored, or even dying. We used devices to measure the UV and Photosynthetically Active Radiation present at the locations of 70 random trees. We then used known sun path equations and GIS to start to develop a way to estimate the maximum amount of time a plant experiences full sun in different locations in the quarry relative to the quarry walls.

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  Reshaping Global Supply Chain: The US-China Trade War, China’s Zero Covid Policy, and Vietnam’s Trade Boom

  Karan Mahato and Guangjun Qu

  The escalating tensions between the United States and China, together with the stringent Zero Covid policy enforced by the Chinese government, have been actively reshaping global supply chains in the past several years. Our project is positioned to examine these two effects on Vietnam's trade engagement. To facilitate our investigation, we compiled export and import data of Vietnam's top 20 trading partners, spanning monthly and yearly intervals. We then explore potential correlations between the US-China trade war, China's lockdown policy, and the trade surge witnessed in Vietnam. Our empirical findings indicate: [a] Both the US-China trade war and China's Zero Covid policy enhance Vietnam's trade with the rest of the world if the two effects are tested separately; [b] If tested simultaneously, the US-China trade war remains statistically significant whereas China's Zero Covid policy does not, which suggests that the former has a more persistent, larger effect than the latter. Scholars and policymakers will discern the relevance of our project in terms of its capacity to elucidate the forces reshaping global supply chains and the dynamics affecting export-led economies, such as China and Vietnam, throughout their enduring evolution.

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  Characterizing the Effects of Benzyl-Amino Alcohol on Cell Growth, Viability, and Migration

  Ryan Miller, Jeff Hansen, and Sarah Mordan-McCombs

  The research we are performing investigates a new compound classified as benzyl-amino alcohol and begins a new endeavor into the effects of this class of compound. This compound would work well in chemotherapies because affecting healthy cells can lead to a patient’s health decline.

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  Life on the Quarry Wall Vs the Quarry Floor: Parthenocissus quinquefolia

  Lily Monnett, Quincie Simmons, and Lauren Kyburz

  Parthenocissus quinquefolia, Virginia creeper, is found in two parts of the DePauw Nature Park quarry: vertically along the quarry wall and on large rock piles on the quarry floor. I looked into how these different habitats influenced the growth form, stress responses, and fitness of the P. quinquefolia growing in them. P. quinquefolia on the wall has higher chlorophyll a content and higher water content. There was also a higher percentage of flowering individuals on the quarry wall than on the floor. Lastly, the two habitats had vastly different morphological growth forms, with those on the wall having very long internodes compared to those on the floor. The data shows that P. quinquefolia on the quarry floor was more water and light stressed and had lower fitness; this suggests the quarry wall is a more suitable habitat for P. quinquefolia than the floor.

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  Cultivating Green: Learning How to Farm Sustainably

  Duyen Nguyen and Christina Holmes

  In the summer of 2022 and throughout the following 2022-2023 academic year, I worked as a farm intern at Ullem Campus Farm. This experience provided a fantastic opportunity for me to learn about sustainable farming practices, gain hands-on experience with organic farming techniques, and explore the hydroponics field. I also had the chance to visit other eco-friendly farms during field trips, where I learned from experienced farmers and heard their inspiring stories.

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  Corruption Perceptions During the Pandemic

  Linh Phuong Thao Nguyen and Guangjun Qu

  This study delves into the response of corruption perception indices to the COVID-19 pandemic. We investigate whether a global shift in corruption indices occurred post-pandemic compared to pre-pandemic levels. Additionally, we assess changes in standard errors of these indices before and after the pandemic to gauge shifts in consensus among people regarding corruption levels of a country. Given the WGI-CC's lack of year-to-year comparability across countries, we recalculated WGI-CC standard errors using methods akin to TI-CPI score calculations. Subsequently, we employ regression analysis, incorporating independent variables such as population, GDP, education, and political regime to explore whether changes in standard errors of corruption indices are statistically significantly influenced by COVID-19 data, including confirmed cases and deaths.

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  Avoidance behavior ecotoxicity testing of Oppia nitens in conventional microplastic and bioplastic spiked soils.

  Catarina Zabot Pasini, Kaija Carr, Nina Shaffer, and Philips Akinwole

  Environment and Climate Change Canada recently completed a standardized protocol of ecotoxicity testing for Oppia nitens, a soil oribatid mite that performs crucial functions to support ecosystem services. Consequently, O. nitens is now recommended among the class of soil invertebrates for ecotoxicity testing, however, its applicability is limited by the paucity of data on its avoidance behavior to contaminants in soils. In this study, we examined the avoidance behavior of O. nitens to three different conventional microplastics (polyvinyl chloride/PVC, polyethylene/PE, polystyrene/PS) and two bioplastics (poly vinyl alcohol/PVA and sodium polyacrylate/NaPa) at five different concentrations following standardized guidelines. PVC and PE concentrations ranged from 857-9000 mg/kg. PS concentrations ranged from 92.59-972 mg/kg. For PVA and NaPa, concentrations ranged from 1543-16200 mg/kg. The O. nitens were exposed to the concentrations for 48 hours using a two-chamber test, to permit the choice between clean artificial and contaminated soil. Our results showed that O. nitens had an attraction to PVC at the two lowest concentrations, but no significant difference in response to the other concentrations. PE indicated an attraction to the lowest three concentrations, but an avoidance to the highest two concentrations (5000 and 9000 mg/kg). PS showed an approximate 75% avoidance at 300 mg/kg, but did not show avoidance at the other higher concentrations, which indicated immobilization or death. PVA indicated avoidance at the two highest concentrations (9000 and 162000 mg/kg) but no significant difference in response at the other concentrations. NaPa showed significant attraction at 9000 mg/kg, but significant avoidance at 162000 mg/kg. Attraction to low levels of contaminants has been termed hormesis, which can be seen especially if they are minutely required for normal metabolism. However, the hormesis-like pattern observed for the PVC, PE, and PS in this study could not be explained since microplastics are not a requirement for metabolic activities in mites compared to copper and zinc, where other studies have shown attraction to low concentrations of these metals. These results indicate that PS was the most toxic contaminant (LC50 = 172.7 mg/kg), and that bioplastics were not as lethal in comparison to the conventional microplastics (PVA LC50 = 8050.012 mg/kg and NaPa LC50 =14553.74 mg/kg). Therefore, bioplastics could potentially be a better alternative to conventional microplastics. The O. nitens is a promising species for avoidance testing in soil ecotoxicology and of great ecological relevance for assessing soils contaminated with pollutants. Since this is the first study investigating O. nitens avoidance to microplastic spiked soils, more studies are needed to evaluate its net responses to varying chemical classes in laboratory tests and applicability in contaminated ecosystems.

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  Podcasts as a Form of Social Support for Individuals with Chronic Illness

  Kate Pederson and Melanie Finney

  Chronic illness frequently decreases individuals’ abilities to receive social support. 105 listeners of health-related podcasts completed online closed and open-ended surveys. Results indicate 97% of respondents experience social isolation because of their illness, and 90% report listening to podcasts help them feel less isolated. Additionally, condition-specific podcasts allow people to gain relevant information about managing health challenges, as well as feel part of a community of people who understand them. Finally, results suggest parasocial relationships with hosts of the podcasts correlate positively with informational support, which subsequently is correlated positively with perceived emotional support.

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  Pyrrolidine Derivative Targets Actin Cytoskeleton in MCF-7 Breast Cancer Cells

  An Pham, Jeff Hansen, and Sarah Mordan-McCombs

  Recent research has brought pyrrolidine derivatives into consideration for the development of anticancer drugs with high efficacy and low toxicity. Dr. Hansen’s lab at DePauw has synthesized a pyrrolidine derivative that demonstrated anticancer activity. However, there are many ways a compound can affect cancer cells. In this research, we decided to investigate the mechanism of action of this new compound, specifically on MCF-7 breast cancer cell line. Based on the results, we believe that there is a great likelihood that the pyrrolidine derivative can induce apoptosis (cell death) and disrupt cell movement in MCF-7 cells. In other words, these are strong indicators that this compound can inhibit both early and late-stage cancer cells.

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  Gene Editing in Zebrafish for Modeling Nicotine Dependence

  Sophia Porter, Thanh Ngoc, Thien Nguyen, and Avery Fagan

  Three genes for nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, the alpha 3 (chrna3), the alpha 5 (chrna5) and the beta 4 (chrnb4) gene have been linked to heavy smoking and smoking onset in humans. Mutations of these genes could increase the risk for developing lifelong nicotine dependence. To explore these potential risk factors we use zebrafish and apply molecular tools including CRISPR/Cas9 for generating gene-knockout mutations and CRISPR/BE4max for generating gene-editing mutations. These tools will allow us to determine if the chrna3, chrna5 and chrnb4 gene mutations are associated with changed nicotine sensitivity, nicotine seeking or nicotine avoidance behavior in zebrafish. Overall, one specific goal of the project is to develop zebrafish lines (or strains) without functional chrna3, chrna5 and chrnb4 genes (gene-knockout mutants). We successfully identified potential gene-knockout founder fish (F0) generated with the CRISPR/Cas9 method for the chrna3, chrna5 and chrnb4 genes. In addition, we were able to generate the first homozygous and heterozygous chrna3 gene knockout mutants and the first heterozygous chrna5 gene knockout mutants that we obtained through the Zebrafish Sanger Mutation project. In summary, we made significant progress towards establishing stable zebrafish homozygous and heterozygous gene knockout mutant lines for three nicotinic acetylcholine receptor genes that will be used for behavioral testing of zebrafish nicotine-seeking and avoidance behavior.

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  Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, Youth Tree Team 2023

  Lydia Stullken

  Keep Indianapolis Beautiful is a non-profit focused on connecting people to the environment and people to people. During my time at KIB, I worked on their youth tree team as a leader. Myself, along with 9 other college students worked in pairs with a group of roughly 10 high schoolers per group. In our days together, we would water, mulch, and care for trees throughout Indianapolis. While working together, the youth created bonds amongst each other and found deeper connection to the nature around them. As a leader, I loved being able to see their relationships with each other blossom. I also created close friendships with the nine other college students and thought that it was amazing how simply taking care of trees and being outside can bring people together who may have otherwise never met. Overall, this position was able to tie my two biggest passions, people and nature, together.

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  XRK3F2 inhibits p62 signaling and augments myeloma killing by proteasome inhibitors

  Ellen Trautman, Colin Crean, David Halladay, and Attaya Suvannasankha

  Background:

  Despite advancements in therapy, multiple myeloma (MM) remains an incurable blood cancer. Our mission is to maximize the efficacy of a primary treatment for myeloma, proteasome inhibitors (PIs) which cause intracellular waste buildup, leading to ER stress and cell death. p62(sequestosome-1) provides an alternate pathway when the proteasome is inhibited, by breaking down cytotoxic material via autophagy. Upregulation of p62 is associated with PI resistance. We identified a small molecule, XRK3F2, that binds to the ZZ domain of p62 and inhibits its autophagic function. We hypothesized that XRK3F2 would improve MM killing when combined with PIs.

  Methods Used:

  We tested XRK3F2 and PI combinations in vitro, in ex vivo co-cultures, and in a human MM xenograft model. We tested XRK3F2 plus bortezomib in vitro and in ex vivo myeloma: bone cocultures and analyzed effects on tumor burden in a prior mouse xenograft experiment. Results: XRK3F2 induced cell death in various human MM cell lines, with a IC50s of 3-6 M. When combined with carfilzomib, the most potent approved PI, at physiologically relevant doses, there was strong synergy (Combinatorial index of 0.4 to 0.6, by Chou-Talalay analysis). The combination of the two agents significantly increased tumor killing in a tumor: bone co-culture model, where the microenvironment of the tumor provides MM survival signals and potential drug resistance. Enhanced tumor killing was further confirmed in a plasmacytoma model of the human MM cell line RPMI-8226 in NSG mice. We also identified soluble BCMA (B-cell maturation antigen, sBCMA) as a sensitive biomarker for tumor burden, which allowed for serial tumor measurements in all tested models.

  Conclusion and Potential Impact:

  Combining the p62-ZZ domain inhibitor XRK3F2 with PIs shows great promise in improving the killing of MM. Work is ongoing to validate the combination in xenograft models, where tumor cells colonize bones, and in immunocompetent models. Further mechanistic studies using primary MM cells from patients are also ongoing. sBCMA is a cheap, specific, and sensitive tool for serial tumor measurement and should be further validated for preclinical and clinical usage.

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  3D & 360º Visualization in Archaeology

  Amalie Vacanti

  The Trasimeno Regional Archaeological Project (TRAP) is a long-term regional archaeological project focused on the exploration of the Castiglione del Lago territory on the West Side of Lago Trasimeno. The 2023 season involved the excavation of a new site, dubbed the Belvedere site, situated within the town of Castiglione del Lago, Italy, an area of interest due to a visible Roman structure protruding from the earth. With the unique opportunity of working with this new site and the innovations in archaeology that have developed in recent years, this summer’s research focused on the production of digital 3D and 360º content for the Trasimeno Regional Archaeological Site and digital museum, as a means of preserving important information, documenting archaeological context, and creating accessible and interactive content about the excavation.

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  Exploring the Impact of Parental Education and Employment on the Prevalence of ACEs: A Nation Wide Investigation

  Eihi Yoshinaga and Naima Shifa

  Our project seeks to examine the association between caregivers' educational attainment and employment status and the prevalence and types of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) in their children. ACEs are potentially traumatic events that occurs between the ages of 0 to 17, and it is well-established that ACE exposure is correlated to negative repercussions on mental and physical well-being in adulthood. Our study aims to identify specific caregiver conditions that elevate the likelihood of ACE exposure. Such efforts would allow the facilitation of targeted allocation of ACE-related funding for early prevention and mitigation among high-risk families. We opted to utilize the National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH) data and performed two primary statistical analyses: the Chi-square test and Logistic Regression analysis. Our results revealed clear negative correlations between ACEs and caregiver employment and educational attainment. Our findings provide valuable insights that can inform targeted interventions and support for at-risk families, ultimately working towards the prevention of ACEs and their adverse effects on children's well-being.

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  Phenotyping of Acute Nicotine Response Behavior in Larval Zebrafish

  Mahnoor Zahid and Henning Schneider

  The alpha 3 (chrna3), alpha 5 (chrna5), and beta 4 (chrnb4) receptor genes of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine have been connected to both the onset and heavy smoking in humans. Zebrafish represent a model system for studying the role of genes in behavioral responses to nicotine. The goal of this project was to develop behavioral tests for the characterization of zebrafish gene-knockout mutants that we are developing using CRISPR/Cas9 and zebrafish from the Sanger Mutation Project. Larval zebrafish were used to look at differences in behavior between the wild types and mutated larval zebrafish at different concentrations of nicotine. The different concentrations allowed us to study nicotine sensitivity and acute nicotine response in the larval zebrafish. The acute nicotine response tests and pharmacological treatments with different nicotine cessation drugs and acetylcholine receptor blockers were carried out to determine the effect of the knockout mutation. Overall, the larval zebrafish showed higher movement activity when placed in higher concentrations of nicotine.

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  Nicotine-Seeking and Avoidance Behavior in Zebrafish Mutants

  Lidya Araya, Thanh Ngoc, Thien Nguyen, Daniel Rhodes, and Henning Schneider

  Nicotine activates nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in the brain and peripheral nervous system and triggers nicotine-seeking or nicotine-avoidance. There is evidence from genome-wide association studies in humans that genomic variances of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor genes of the types alpha3 (chrna3), alpha5 (chrna5) and beta 4 (chrnb4) contribute to heavy smoking and early onset of smoking. This project explored the role of the alpha3 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunit in nicotine-seeking and avoidance behavior in larval zebrafish. We used zebrafish with the mutant allele sa14384 of the chrna3 gene that represents a missense mutation and causes a stop codon in the alpha3 receptor gene (chrna3). The mutation would affect the function of heteromeric nicotinic acetylcholine receptor types that contain alpha3 subunits such as the alpha3/beta2 and alpha3/beta4 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. The chrna3 mutant allele (sa14384) was associated differently with nicotine-seekers, nicotine-avoiders and non-seekers. Pre-treatment with a blocker (antagonist) for an alpha3/beta4 receptor in normal wildtype larval zebrafish increased the percentage of nicotine avoiders and reduced the percentage of nicotine seekers at a high nicotine test concentration. Moreover, acute nicotine response experiments using the Daniovision system showed that the alpha3/beta4 acetylcholine receptor blocker causes a reduced response in zebrafish from heterozygous parents. Overall, obtained results indicate that the alpha3 acetylcholine receptor subunit is slightly linked to nicotine seeking and avoidance behavior in larval zebrafish. Discrepancies that we observed could be based on known intricate functions of the alpha3 receptor subunit. To gain better insight into the function of the alpha3 receptor subunit future experiments will employ a larval zebrafish strain with two mutant alleles of the alpha 3 acetylcholine receptor subunit.

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  ChemWeb: A 2D Molecular Builder Game

  Suleman Bashir Baloch and Jeffrey A. Hansen

  The research is based on the development of a 2D molecular builder game for CHEM 120 students. The game allows students to draw and check their structures for a given formula against a database of possible correct structures. The game consists of 8 levels, each based on drawing the maximum possible isomers from a given chemical formula. It is created as a web-based application on React.js. The project shall allow greater liberty and ease to students in drawing structures. In addition, they shall be able to perform self-check for drawn structures which will significantly minimize the assistance required from instructors during classes.

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  Investigating rare genetic variants in a human enzyme

  Ayden Bennet, Delany Collier, Elizabeth Davis, Braden Mallery, Daniel Glimco, Ellen Trautman, Beck Wakefield, Sharon Crary Ph.D, and Daniel Gurnon Ph.D

  Our genome is like a parts-list for all of the molecular machines that make us human. Choose any two people on earth, and their DNA will be 99.9% identical- but in the context of our vast amounts of DNA, 0.1% equates to about 10,000 differences in the makeup of each individual’s machinery. These variations make us unique at the molecular level- but in some cases, they can also cause genetic disease.

  Though there are thousands of rare genetic diseases, most of them are not completely understood. Genetic variants are categorized as pathogenic (or likely pathogenic), benign (or likely benign), or when predictions fail, a “variant of uncertain significance”, or VUS. There are hundreds of thousands of VUS’s, each from a real patient with symptoms that have not been definitively linked to an underlying genetic cause.

  In our lab, we try to make a small impact by studying one protein, linked to one disease, at a time. We create and compare the activities of “normal” and “mutant” versions of the protein with the goal of providing insight into the true impact of each VUS. This summer our focus was on Lactate Dehydrogenase (LDHA), the enzyme responsible for generating the lactic acid that is essential to humans’ ability to maintain intense levels of exercise. Students were able to express and purify 8 different variants of the protein.

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  Latex Induction and Effects of Herbivory on Apocynum cannabinum

  Shiley Claypool, Tim Douglas, and Rose Keith

  Apocynum cannabinum, also known as hemp dogbane, is a species of perennial native to the U.S. This species has been found to be extremely plastic, meaning that its environment has significant effects on its phenotypic traits (Ransom et al. 1998). Plant-herbivore interactions, such as herbivory, can drive this plasticity. One of these responses includes the induction of Latex, a white sappy fluid that exits leaves and stems induced by damage (Agrawal and Konno 2009). This project investigates the effects of early-season vs. late-season herbivory on hemp dogbane, as well as how latex induction is influenced by these plant-herbivore interactions.

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  Inhibiting S100β and Troubleshooting Cell Growth

  Animesh Dali, Suhana Basnyat, Robert Passarelli, and Nipun Chopra

  S100B is a protein that is upregulated in neuronal injury. The upregulation of S100B has been observed to start multiple cascades that result in neuronal death. The inhibition of S100B would be a promising treatment for neuronal injury. In our research, we attempt to do exactly so.

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  Diagnosing the Present with An Ecotopian Lexicon

  Chirag Giri and Adam Liebman

  The book An Ecotopian Lexicon (2019) presents a collection of thirty terms and concepts from speculative fiction, anthropology, and the sociology of subcultures, each explored by a different author. The lexicon intends to address our collective “poverty of imagination” when it comes to avoiding global environmental collapse and building a different world, evidenced by the increasing dominance of apocalyptic narratives in popular culture. Although the book’s primary aim is to explore diverse concepts for imagining better futures, we have analyzed the form and content of the book for what they tell us about the present.

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  High-Risk Behavior of Students Carrying Weapon to School

  Nan Lin Wah Sin Htoo and Naima Shifa

  The rise of personal and mental issues in students has been accompanied by an increase in the number of students carrying guns and the frequency of mass shootings at schools in the US. A recent study (Dong, 2021) pointed out that future researchers should focus on recognizing high-risk youths and tackle their issues early on in life most appropriately according to individual differences such as age and personal circumstances.This research discusses the contributing factors to youths carrying guns to schools and analyzes the high-risk behaviors of students. It was hypothesized that their personal issues such as their mental wellness, high-risk behavior, and attitude towards school correlate with their decision to carry weapons, particularly guns on school property. It is found that the group of students who do not feel safe at school and carry weapons has a higher percentage of students who are showing depression and suicidal symptoms than the overall group of students. These students also tend to get into fights in school or outside school more often. It is also found that students who experience dating violence (sexual or physical), who do binge drinking more often, who have higher sexual activities and higher number of sexual partners, students who were bullied, and those who have been threatened or injured by a weapon at school property with a weapon are also more likely to carry guns than those who are not. The results of the analysis also indicate that the feeling of being unsafe at school has a significant effect on whether students carry guns or not.

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  Linking Historical Redlining Maps to Present‐Day Environmental Hazards in St. Louis

  Margaret Keller and Kenneth L. Brown

  Many of America’s cities were mapped by the Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC). This practice led to structurally racist housing policies and practices, namely redlining. The practice of redlining directed both public and private capital to native‐born, white families and away from Black, Latinx, and immigrant families that lived in these areas. While redlining is illegal today due to the Fair Housing Act of 1968, its impact is still evident in the structure of many U.S. cities including St. Louis (Hillier 2015). Today, redlined areas are particularly susceptible to environmental injustices because laws, regulations, governmental programs, and policies inadequately protect the marginalized minority groups living in these communities (Pulido 2015). To better characterize the undue environmental burden placed on the residents living in these redlined communities, this project aims to analyze the spatial relationships between historical HOLC redlining maps, modern-day demographics, and the present‐day environmental hazards such as brownfield sites, superfund sites, hazardous waste sites, and PM2.5 concentrations found in these communities.