Dr. Katera Moore has been appointed as the environmental justice coordinator at the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, Secretary Shawn Garvin announced Wednesday.

Dr. Moore becomes the first such coordinator in state history. She will work with communities who have experienced disproportionately adverse human health and environmental impacts to their minority and low-income populations.

In addition to her experience as an educator, Dr. Moore holds a doctorate in Earth and environmental sciences, with a specialization in geography, from the City University of New York’s Graduate Center. She received her master’s degree in environmental studies and a bachelor’s in urban studies from the University of Pennsylvania.

Before joining the department last year as an ombudsman for the Division of Waste and Hazardous Substances, Dr. Moore served as the interim associate director of Einstein Healthcare Network’s A Better Start program, where she built a plan to address community public health. For five years, she worked in a similar role as the director of the Agatston Urban Nutrition Initiative at the University of Pennsylvania’s Netter Center for Community Partnerships.

The department has also launched an environmental justice webpage for communication with constituents in underserved communities, available here.