About Chris
Chris Hammond is a co-founder and co-director of Shaghaf Team, where he’s focused on researching Kirkuk’s air quality and its relationship to public health and the environment from an environmental justice and human rights perspective. Chris is also presently working on completing a Master of Science at University of London, focusing on environmental science and sustainability, with an emphasis on global environmental policy, pollution monitoring, and reduction. He completed his undergraduate degree at York University in Toronto, Canada, and brings a background in political science and technical expertise in computer science. He uses his interdisciplinary academic and career experience now to focus on advocating for the environment, clean air, and human rights.
His recent initiatives at Shaghaf Team includes data-driven environmental monitoring, grassroots advocacy, and community-based research and advocacy. He is currently conducting transnational citizen-science-based field research on ambient air pollution in Kirkuk, including the deployment of monitoring stations to measure fine particulate matter (PM2.5). Through this research, him and the team are exploring the sociopolitical dimensions of air quality, with a focus on how particulate exposure intersects with health disparities and socioeconomic inequities. The research aims to inform inclusive, evidence-based environmental policy that centres the experiences of marginalized and vulnerable communities.