Our Mission

Our mission

Pollution, heat, flooding, and contaminated land don’t fall on every New Jersey community equally. SoilStory’s mission is to show, with public data and the words of the people affected, where these burdens fall and who carries them, and to make every step of that work open so anyone can check it.

Why I started this

My grandfather, a botanist in Korea, was the first person to teach me about agriculture and the environment. I spent time exploring and working on my great-grandmother’s farm with my cousin JinSu, who passed away not long ago. Those days gave me a lasting love for the natural world, and environmental science captivated me early on.

Later, while researching the deterioration of natural parks in Korea, I began reading about environmental injustice: the way environmental harm falls hardest on some communities. That question of who carries the burden is what brought me to this project, and to the communities of New Jersey.

What I’ve done

• Wrote research posts, each looking at one way environmental burdens fall unequally in New Jersey: air pollution, drinking water, heat, contaminated sites, polluting facilities, flooding, and the state’s Environmental Justice Law.
• Wrote a Python code project for every post that downloads the public data and produces the post’s numbers, tables, and figures.

How I do the research

Data sources. I use public data from government agencies, mainly:

• the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) Environmental Justice Law data, which covers every neighborhood (census block group) in the state;
• U.S. EPA datasets such as the Toxics Release Inventory, EJScreen, and air-quality monitors;
• the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey for demographics.

Each post lists its exact datasets under “Data and methods.”

How I check them.

• I download data straight from the agency that publishes it, and I note which version I used.
• Where an agency publishes its own results, I check that my code reproduces them before going further.
• I test whether a pattern holds up: within each county as well as statewide, and with statistical controls in the later posts.
• I report results as they come out, including the limits of each analysis. Every post has a “Limitations” section.

How I cite. Every post ends with a reference list in APA style, with links. Facts, quotes, and numbers from other people’s work are cited where they appear. The code for every post is public, so anyone can check my numbers.

Ethics and consent

The Stories section shares real people’s experiences, so it follows these rules:

• How stories are collected. People can submit a story through the Share Your Story form (in English or Spanish), by email, or by asking to talk instead, in which case I interview them by phone or video call. Interviews are recorded only with permission. Printed flyers with QR codes invite people at community meetings and libraries.
• Consent comes first. The form asks separately whether a story may be published at all, how the person wants to be named, and how specific the location can be. Nothing is published without clear permission. People see the final version before it goes online and can ask for changes. Anyone can say no to publishing and still share their story to inform the research.
• People choose how they’re named. Full name, first name only, or anonymous. They also choose how specific the location is (town, county, or none), and whether a photo is used.
• Changing your mind. Anyone can ask for their story to be edited or removed at any time by emailing me, and I’ll do it promptly.
• Privacy. I collect only what’s needed: no home addresses or birthdates. Contact information is optional unless someone wants to be published or interviewed, is never published, and is used only to follow up about the story. Form responses are kept private.
• Accuracy. Stories are people’s own experiences in their own words. I may lightly edit for length or clarity, and the person approves any edits.