Dorceta E. Taylor is Professor in the School of Natural Resources and Environment at the University of Michigan, where she also serves as Field of Studies Coordinator for the Environmental Justice program. She graduated from Yale University with doctorates in Sociology and Forestry & Environmental Studies. Her previous books include The Environment and the People in American Cities: 1600s-1900s. Disorder, Inequalty and Social Change , which won the 2010 Allan Schnaiberg Outstanding Publication Award from the Environment and Technology Section of the American Sociological Association.