Growing up in Lima, Peru, Sonia Refulio-Coronado has long been an avid beach goer. Drawn to the University of Rhode Island (URI) to study the recreational use of saltwater beaches in Rhode Island as a Master’s student in Environmental and Natural Resource Economics (ENRE), she quickly realized that proximity to the coast does not equal accessibility. “I could not reach the closest beach to my house, which is 15 minutes away, because I could not get there by bus,” Refulio-Coronado says. “These access problems sparked my interest in studying beaches and environmental justice.” Now a Ph.D. candidate in ENRE, Refulio-Coronado’s research explores water quality issues across the United States, focusing on both surface and drinking water. 

Recognized as an Emerging Coastal Leader last year, Refulio-Coronado’s dissertation research focuses on how water quality at the beach impacts racial minorities and low-income communities around the state, the effect of personalized information on households’ decisions to mitigate PFAS in drinking water in their homes, and the impact of PFAS drinking water regulation on people’s self-protection strategies. She recently shared the results of her first chapter at The Social Cost of Water Pollution Workshop, a conference sponsored by the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in Washington, D.C. Presenting in a session on the valuation of water quality using cell phone data, Refulio-Coronado notes that her work was well received by scholars and policymakers from federal agencies. “It was a great opportunity to learn what other environmental economists are researching using similar datasets to value water quality changes in the U.S. and exchange valuable feedback to help improve each other’s studies,” she adds.

Beyond her dissertation research, Refulio-Coronado is passionate about connecting the dots between structural factors and lived experiences–for example, people have to visit beaches with low water clarity when cleaner beaches are inaccessible. “In a paper I am co-authoring with Emi Uchida (URI), Nathaniel Merrill (EPA), and Pengfei Liu (URI), we argue that redlining, beach access configuration, and transportation challenges play a significant role in the unequal access to beaches by disadvantaged communities in Rhode Island,” she says. Considering the broad impact of this work, Refulio-Coronado plans to continue finding meaningful ways to share her research with fellow scientists, decision-makers, and the wider public. She notes that practical, actionable changes would have consequential, immediate effects–such as implementing a reliable beach bus service that lowers commuting costs to allow disadvantaged communities in northern Rhode Island to enjoy cleaner beaches, which are usually in the southern part. “In the long run, modernizing water and sewage infrastructure can enhance water quality at beaches near discharge points in Upper Narragansett Bay,” she adds. “In this way, the state can alleviate disparities in the recreational use of saltwater beaches.”

In a state with more shoreline than coastline, going to the beach should be one of the most affordable and accessible recreational activities. “However, water quality has a profound impact on our ability to enjoy it,” Refulio-Coronado says. “My research shows that while water quality changes affect everyone, not everyone benefits equally. Wealthier, predominantly white communities are the major beneficiaries of improvements in water clarity at saltwater beaches in the Northeast. Conversely, disadvantaged communities often face greater barriers to accessing cleaner environments because they lack the means to commute longer distances. They end up paying higher costs to get to more desirable beaches if admitted. Some homeowners keep private practices that do not allow non-residents to get to the shoreline despite being a right for every Rhode Islander. Unfortunately, equal access to beaches in the Ocean State is still not a reality.”