USC Environmental Health Professor Ed Avol provides his undergraduate students with a variety of opportunities to learn more about environmental impacts in communities in and around Los Angeles. This past semester, Avol arranged an optional tour of the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach for interested students. Guided by several port activists, students were shown how cargo-related activities in and around the ports have impacted frontline communities for decades.

"Hearing about the port communities in class was one thing, but seeing them first hand was completely different. To be at the ports and understand the extent of the problems they face was an eye opening experience," commented student Sharon Zhang. Zhang, who maintains a personal photo blog, documented her experience on the tour. Click here to see her collection of photos that document the tour experience.