Anastasia Vanderpool is a third-year student pursuing a double-BA in Public Affairs and Geography with a minor in Environmental Systems and Society. She is passionate about the study of urban planning policy as a means of improving community wellbeing and addressing social justice issues that are deep-rooted in U.S. infrastructure. Having survived a rare form of melanoma in her childhood, she is especially interested in public health and its relationship to the built environment. Anastasia’s research project aims to use archival data to examine potential connections between urban-industrial development and contemporary environmental-health outcomes in the Antelope Valley, California. Her goal is to better understand how the rapid expansion of aerospace and defense alongside urban planning policies in the region have, over time, shaped environmental conditions experienced across different demographics.