Faculty Profile

Amy Schulz

Amy J. Schulz, PhD, MPH, MSW

  • University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor
  • Professor, Health Behavior and Health Equity

Dr. Schulz is a sociologist with expertise in the joint contributions of social and physical environmental exposures to health inequities, and a leading scholar in the field of community based participatory research (CBPR). She has extensive experience working collaboratively with community, practice and academic partners to conduct both etiologic and intervention research to understand and reduce health inequities. Her current work with the Community Action to Promote Healthy Environments (CAPHE) partnership, a CBPR partnership, focuses on air pollution, social and economic inequities in exposure and impacts, implementation of components of CAPHE's scientifically and community grounded Public Health Action Plan to reduce excess risk in the Detroit Metropolitan area. Her specific expertise is in analysis of joint contributions of social and physical environmental conditions to racial and socioeconomic health inequities, development and implementation of policy and programmatic interventions, conducting health impact assessments (HIAs) of proposed policies, and in the engagement of community, academic and public health practice partners in participatory research and intervention efforts.

  • PhD, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1994
  • MSW, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1990
  • MPH, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1981

Research Interests:
Racial and socioeconomic health inequities, social and economic drivers of health inequities, environmental racism and environmental justice, community-based participatory research

Research Projects:
Dr. Schulz's research in Detroit is conducted in collaboration with multiple community and academic partners, focused on environmental racism and strategies for promoting environmental justice and health equity. Her current work with the Community Action to Promote Healthy Environments (CAPHE) partnership is supported by multiple funding mechanisms and includes efforts to:

  • improve indoor air quality in child serving organizations in areas with high levels of air pollutants
  • improve community members' access to air quality data through community science and expanded air quality monitoring networks
  • support community-led environmental science and advocacy among upper elementary through high school students and communtity residents more broadly
  • support the application of community and academic scientific findings to inform local and state policies to reduce environmental exposures in communities experiencing disproportionate exposures and health impacts.

Dr. Schulz has collaborated with community and academic partners to conduct health impact assessments of the Gordie Howe International Bridge, and Integrated Resource Plans laying out state energy-production plans.
In collaboration with community and academic partners, she has translated scientific evidence to inform recommendations for clean, renewable energy and energy equity.
A strong interest in public scholarship has produced recent commentaries, including commentaries on policing as a public health issue, social determinants of COVID-19 inequities, inequities in access to clean water, and anti-racist approaches to community engagement. Dr. Schulz recently curated a series on Environmental Racism and Justice and regularly works to translate public health science for a variety of audiences to promote environmental justice and health equity.


Chatters, LM, Taylor, RM, Schulz AJ. The return of race science and why it matters for family science. J Fam Theory Rev. 2022. July 14 2022: 1-21, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/jftr.12472 

Fleming, PJ, Cacari-Stone, L, Creary, M, Greene-Moton, E, Israel, BA, Keye, K, Reyes, AG, Wallerstein, N, Schulz, AJ. 2022. Anti-racism and Community-Based Participatory Research: Synergies, challenges, and opportunities. Am J Pub Hlth. Accepted for publication July 2022.

Schulz AJ, Mentz GB, Sampson N, Ward M, Anderson R, de Majo R, Israel BA, Lewis TC, Wilkins D. Race and the distribution of social and physical environmental risk: A case example from the Detroit Metropolitan Area. Du Bois Rev. 2016 Fall;13(2):285-304. doi: 10.1017/S1742058X16000163. Epub 2016 Oct 26. PubMed PMID: 28951763; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5610908.

Ward M, Schulz AJ, Israel BA, Rice K, Martenies SE, Markarian E. A conceptual framework for evaluating health equity promotion within community-based participatory research partnerships. Eval Program Plann. 2018 Oct;70:25-34. doi: 10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2018.04.014. Epub 2018 Apr 30. PubMed PMID: 29894902; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6077092.

A full list of my publications is available at:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/myncbi/amy.schulz.1/bibliography/40555525/public/?sort=dateanddirection=ascending 

Email: ajschulz@umich.edu 
Office: 734 647-0221
Address: 2823 SPH I
1415 Washington Heights
Ann Arbor, MI 48109

For media inquiries: sph.media@umich.edu 

Areas of Expertise: Environmental Health,  Health Equity,  Racism