FLC Voices: Professor Rebecca Clausen talks Animas River recovery [VIDEO]

Rebecca Clausen, Sociology associate professor and chair of the Sociology & Human Services department, talks about an event she created to help the Durango community process feelings in the wake of the Animas River mine waste spill.

Transcript:

As the Durango community continues to recover from the Gold King Mine spill, Fort Lewis College faculty and staff are finding ways to be of service.

I'm Becky Clausen. I'm a sociologist by training, and a parent here in the Durango community.

All across the country, whether it was the Deepwater Horizon spill, or the coal ash impoundments in Tennessee, communities that experience man-made disasters have very similar reactions of anxiety, grief, stress, aggression.

So I started thinking, what should we ... what's something we could do to actually address that? One inspiration was for the kids to have a way to express their thoughts about the river and pollution ... but i started thinking, it's really about adults, too, having a place to talk about what the last week or two has been like in our community. Because when people feel like their voices aren't being heard, it manifests and pops out in other negative ways. Knowing that your voice was heard and acknowledged, we can start thinking about moving in positive directions. Thanks.

Read Clausen's article on social implications of the Animas River mine waste spill.