Shining a light on the dangers of lead

Richard Pepino “inherited” the Academically Based Community Service (ABCS) course, Urban Environments: Speaking Out About Lead in West Philadelphia, somewhat unwillingly from Earth and Environmental Science Department (EES) colleague Robert Giegengack. 

“He harassed me until I agreed to teach it for one year,” Pepino recalls with a chuckle. “Turns out the experience was like opening a Pandora’s Box that was filled with problems affecting mostly children of color, but like Pandora, I also found hope that my students could make things better within the West Philadelphia community.” Next month, he will begin teaching the course—one of the longest-running ABCS courses at Penn—for the thirteenth time. 

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