New Publication: The Conversation — Mark Axelrod on the Critical Value of Granular Environmental Data

ESPP Affiliate Faculty Professor Mark Axelrod has published a new piece in The Conversation titled "Research on Global Fishing Highlights the Critical Value of Detailed Environmental Data."

The article examines a significant policy shift: the Trump administration's recent directive that the EPA collect and report only aggregate, average-level pollution data — eliminating the breakdown by race, gender, ethnicity, and other social identities that have long been essential to identifying who is most exposed to environmental harm.
Axelrod uses small-scale fisheries — operations that generate $77 billion annually, employ over 90% of fishery workers worldwide, and remain invisible in most policy planning — as a compelling case study. Drawing on his research with MSU PhD alum Dr. Julia Novak Colwell in southeastern India, he shows how aggregate data masked a stark gender disparity: during seasonal fishing bans, over 15% of women in fishery-connected households faced food insecurity, compared to less than 4% of men. Without that detailed data, aid distribution risked leaving women under-supported.

The piece argues that losing granular environmental data doesn't just hurt researchers — it directly compromises the ability of policymakers, regulators, and communities to identify vulnerable populations, set effective quotas and rules, and respond to emerging crises before they spread to the wider population.

Read the full article here: The Conversation — Research on Global Fishing Highlights the Critical Value of Detailed Environmental Data

Congratulations, Mark!