Climate and Sustainability

As the climate changes due to human activities, our projects are focused on how society can adapt to live in a manner that has less of an impact on the natural environment.

  • Institute for Responsible Carbon Removal Receives Sloan Foundation Grant

    Sara Nawaz
    Dr. Sara Nawaz at the Institute for Responsible Carbon Removal at the School of International Service has received funding from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to test and refine a novel approach to community engagement on marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) technologies that builds local capacity for decision making, explores possible mCDR futures, and produces […]

  • [Recap] EcoMadres Webinar: Climate Displacement & Wildfires

    Julie A. Gonzalez
    Dr. Julie A. González, CECE Post Doctoral Fellow, was a guest speaker in the EcoMadres Webinar on Climate Displacement & Wildfires, a discussion on how climate disasters, particularly wildfires, impact vulnerable communities. Hosted by EcoMadres, the event brought together researchers, advocates, and community leaders to examine the long-term health, economic, and social effects of wildfires, […]

  • [Recap] CECE Colloquium Series – Energy Justice

    Abeer Y Al-Eryani, Maya Livio
    On Monday, February 24th CECE’s Abeer Al-Eryani was joined by SOC’s Maya Livio for the first CECE colloquium on the semester. Al-Eryani and Livio focused the discussion on their work related to energy justice. Livio presented on her newest research, which focuses on the impacts of data energy centers. She is particularly interested in mapping […]

  • What is Energy Justice?

    Abeer Y Al-Eryani
    Most people are familiar with the term “environmental justice,” a concept with a long history of social activism, policy frameworks, and academic research. But “energy justice” often evokes puzzled reactions. While energy justice intersects with environmental justice on multiple fronts it has distinct features that differentiate it. How is it different from Environmental and Climate […]

  • The People’s March 2025: Surveying Protesters in Resistance 2.0

    Dana R. Fisher
    CECE Director and SIS Professor, Dr. Dana R. Fisher, along with a research team of 8 AU-affiliated researchers and students, attended the People’s March in Washington, DC on 1/18/2025 to survey participants. The March was organized as a legally permitted peaceful demonstration on the Saturday before the inauguration of Donald Trump. Data were collected as […]

  • [Article] Why climate activists are becoming more radicalized (and why that’s not a bad thing) 

    CECE
    CECE Director, Dana R. Fisher, recently published an Opinion piece in The Hill (co-authored with Professor Hajar Yazdiha from USC). In the OpEd, they write about the radicalization of climate activism and what the climate movement can learn from the Civil Rights Movement. Click here for the full article.

  • CECE Research Team Kicks-off Climate Corps Pilot with Visits to Vermont and California 

    Magnolia Mead
    This fall, the research team working on the Addressing Climate Change Through Our Nation’s Service Corps Project visited three Climate Corps sites as part of a pilot to study the ways their programs are connecting climate-interested young people and embedding in communities.  At each site, Principal Investigator Dana R. Fisher presented a curriculum on the […]

  • [Recap] Steven Donziger: From Climate Lawyer to Corporate Political Prisoner

    Dana R. Fisher, William John Snape, III
    On Wednesday, November 20th CECE and WCL’s Program on Environmental and Energy Law hosted Steven Donziger for a conversation of his life as a human rights lawyer turned corporate political prisoner. The conversation between Steven Donziger and CECE Director, Dr. Dana R. Fisher, began with a short intro video describing his legal battles with Chevron. […]

  • CECE Director, Dana R. Fisher, gives a TED Talk

    CECE
    In October 2024, Dr. Dana R. Fisher, gave a TED talk on how to be an “Apocalytic Optimist”, which presents her findings about what it will really take to get us to the other side of the climate crisis based on her latest book, Saving Ourselves: From Climate Shocks to Climate Action. Check it out […]

  • CECE Postdoc, Julie González, Speaks with Telemundo on Extreme Weather Events in the Northeast US

    Dr. Julie A. González, Environmental Justice Postdoctoral Fellow at CECE, spoke to Telemundo about the wildfires and droughts impacting New Jersey and New York, their connection to climate change, and the risks these events pose to communities as we face a very dry winter ahead. Click here to watch the full segment

  • American University Experts Weigh in on COP29

    Dana R. Fisher, William John Snape, III, Chelsea Koch, Stephen MacAvoy, Rosalind Donald, Simon Nicholson
    On 11 November, the 29th Conference of the Parties of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (the UNFCCC’s COP-29) begins in Baku, Azerbaijan.  This round of negotiations is the last one before countries are expected to submit their updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to the Paris Agreement by early 2025.  Since many countries are still off […]

  • Article: The Political Economy of Energy Security in Wartime Yemen

    Abeer Y Al-Eryani
    CECE Postdoctoral Fellow, Abeer Al-Eryani, has published a new article in Middle East Law and Governance, titled The Political Economy of Energy Security in Wartime Yemen. The study examines how war fragments traditional governance structures, alters subsidy frameworks, and destabilizes infrastructure, creating a complex energy landscape responsive to shifting power dynamics.  In addition to these […]

Climate and Sustainability Experts

Abeer Y Al-Eryani

Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Environment, Community, & Equity

Robert Albro

Research Associate Professor, Center for Latin American and Latino Studies

Michael Alonzo

Assistant Professor, Environmental Science

Julie A. Anderson

Associate Program Director, Masters of Science in Sustainability Management (MSSM)

Valentina Aquila

Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Science

Barbara Balestra

Director, Environmental Sciences Teaching Laboratory, Micro-Lab.

David Bartlett

Senior Professorial Lecturer, Department of Management

Kristine Beran

Professorial Lecturer, Department of Environmental Science

Robin Broad

Research Professor, Department of Environment, Development, and Health
Jennifer Brown

Jenn Brown

Program Manager, Institute for Carbon Removal Law and Policy

Claire Brunel

Associate Professor, Department of Politics Economics and Governance

Anny Cárdenas

Assistant Professor, Biology

Ernesto Castañeda

Director, Center for Latin American and Latino Studies

C. Anne Claus

Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology

Ken Conca

Professor, Department of Environment, Development, and Health

Nicole Darnall

Arlene R. and Robert P. Kogod Eminent Scholar Chair in Sustainability

Parthiban David

Senior Associate Dean, Kogod School of Business

Rosalind Donald

Assistant Professor, Public Communication

Todd Eisenstadt

Research Director, Center for Environmental Policy

Larry Engel

Associate Director Center for Environmental Filmmaking

Dana R. Fisher

Director, Center for Environment, Community, & Equity

Scott Freeman

Senior Lecturer, Department of Environment, Development, and Health

Julie A. Gonzalez

Environmental Justice Postdoctoral Fellow, CECE

Garrett Graddy-Lovelace

Provost Associate Professor, Department of Environment, Development, and Health

Edward Guetti

Professorial Lecturer, Department of Philosophy and Religion

Matthew Hartings

Associate Professor, Chemistry

David Hunter

Professor of Law, WCL Program on Environmental and Energy Law

Sarah Iverson

Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology
Chris Jayko

W. Chris Jayko

Assistant Director, Center for Environment, Community, & Equity
Kyra Jones

Kyra Jones

Operations Manager

Victoria Kiechel

Senior Professorial Lecturer, Department of Environment, Development, and Health

Chelsea Koch

Assistant Professor, Arctic Ecogeochemistry Lab/Department of Environmental Science Assistant Professor, Arctic Ecogeochemistry Lab/Department of Environmental Science

Megan Litke

Director of Sustainability, Office of Sustainability

Maya Livio

Assistant Professor, Climate, Environmental Justice, Media and Communication

Stephen MacAvoy

Associate Professor, Department of Biology

Magnolia Mead

CECE Fellow & Research Assistant

Sara Nawaz

Director of Research, Institute for Responsible Carbon Removal

Simon Nicholson

Co-Director of the Institute for Carbon Removal Law and Policy

Jennifer Oetzel

Research Professor, Department of Management

Marcos A. Orellana

Director, Global Toxics and Human Rights Project

Angela Pashayan

Professorial Lecturer, Department of Environment, Development, and Health

Claudia Persico

Associate Professor, Public Administration and Policy

Natalia Piland

CECE Collaborating Researcher, Interdisciplinary Scientist
Malini Ranganathan

Malini Ranganathan

Associate Professor, Department of Environment, Development, and Health

Jesse Ribot

Professor, Department of Environment, Development, and Health

Thurka Sangaramoorthy

Professor, Department of Anthropology

Judith Shapiro

Director of Graduate Studies, Dept of Environment Development and Health

Garima Sharma

Assistant Professor, Department of Management

Sauleh Siddiqui

Professor, Environmental Science

William John Snape, III

Professor and Director, WCL Program on Environmental and Energy Law

Stacey Snelling

Healthy Schools, Healthy Communities Lab

Maggie B. Stogner

Executive Director, Center For Environmental Filmmaking

David J. Vázquez

Associate Professor, Critical Race, Gender, and Culture Studies
Rachel Weiss

Rachel Weiss

Program Manager, Center for Environment, Community, & Equity

Paul Yoo

Assistant Professor, Finance