Environmental Equity, Conflict, and Justice

Recognizing the ways that less-privileged communities, frontline communities and communities-of-color have been disproportionately affected by environmental harms and conflict and are granted less access to environmental goods and services, our projects explore these patterns and direct attention to the need for more equitable and just solutions.

Apocalyptic Optimist Episode 2: Why Solidarity Is So Hard — and How We Build It Anyway
February 24, 2026
CECE
In Episode 2 of the Apocalyptic Optimist Podcast, Dana talks with Dr. Rashawn Ray about the realities of building solidarity in a deeply divided moment. From his work with communities-of-color and police departments to learning from the Black Lives Matter movement, Dr. Ray breaks down what works, what doesn’t, and how people can show up as […]
Apocalyptic Optimist Episode 1: Learning from the Free America Walkout
February 3, 2026
CECE
In the inaugural episode of the Apocalyptic Optimist Podcast, Dr. Dana R. Fisher talks with Rachel O’Leary Carmona and Tamika Middleton from the Women’s March about what we can learn from the Free America Walkout. You can watch all of the episodes here or access them via our YouTube Channel, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.
[Article] Resistance to Trump 2.0 Is Getting More Confrontational
February 2, 2026
Dana R. Fisher
CECE Director Dana R. Fisher recently wrote about how resistance has shifted during the second Trump administration. The article, published in The Guardian, outlines how Resistance 2.0 has become, and will continue to be, more confrontational. The full article can be found here.
Assessing Patterns of Changing Media Diets in the US
January 29, 2026
Kyra Jones, W. Chris Jayko, Dana R. Fisher
CECE conducted a survey of a nationally representative sample of 1,500 adults in the US through YouGov during the two weeks leading up to the 2025 election. The survey included a question about the public’s media diet, which was modeled on a question fielded by the Pew Research Center in March 2025. The tool below […]
[Article] Inside the Movement Challenging—and Disrupting—ICE
January 29, 2026
Dana R. Fisher, Arman Azedi
Data gathered by CECE Director Dana R. Fisher and Postdoctoral Fellow Arman Azedi was recently featured in an article in The Economist. The article provides a look inside the network of activists disrupting ICE across the country. The full article can be found here.
[Article] Public Participation in Tropical Conservation and Environmental Management Research
January 20, 2026
Natalia Piland
CECE Postdoctoral Fellow Natalia C. Piland is lead author of a new paper in Biotropica titled, “Public participation in tropical conservation and environmental management research: Towards a locally grounded and reflexive practice.” This paper highlights research and practitioner experiences from the 18 co-authors and local histories, as well as results of bibliometric analyses from peer-reviewed literature, to […]
[Article] Drawing Systems of Stewardship to Guide Action and Reveal Critical Relationships of Care
January 20, 2026
Natalia Piland
CECE Postdoctoral Fellow Natalia C. Piland is lead author of a new paper in Earth Stewardship titled, “Drawing systems of stewardship to guide action and reveal critical relationships of care.” This paper is a presentation of a tool she, with her co-authors, developed while working at the U.S. Forest Service. The tool is meant to lower activation […]
[Report] Energy Transition in Yemen: A Path to Justice and Sustainable Development
December 11, 2025
Abeer Y Al-Eryani
CECE’s postdoctoral fellow Abeer Al‑Eryani, in collaboration with the Arab Reform Initiative and the Sana’a Center for Strategic Studies, has published a new policy document titled “Energy Transition in Yemen: A Path to Justice and Sustainable Development.” The brief examines how conflict, institutional fragmentation, and socio-economic precarity are reshaping Yemen’s energy landscape, and proposes a framework for designing […]
COPOut Episode 1: Platforming Activism
November 9, 2025
CECE
In the inaugural episode of the COPOut Podcast, Dr. Dana R. Fisher talks with climate leaders about how to platform activism and empower civil society in the struggle to address the climate crisis. Tune in to hear from Ingmar Rentzhog from We Don’t Have Time, Jamie Minden from This Is Zero Hour, and Magnolia Mead […]
2025 CECE Faculty Research Incubator Grant: Renewable Energy Technologies (RETs) and [...]
November 5, 2025
Abeer Y Al-Eryani, Claire Brunel, Michael Alonzo
We are excited to announce this year’s selected CECE Faculty Incubator proposal, titled “Renewable Energy Technologies (RETs) and the Multidimensional Inequalities of Deployment in Refugee and Host Communities.” This interdisciplinary project represents a collaboration across departments within the School of International Service (SIS) and beyond, bringing together Drs. Claire Brunel (SIS–PGE), Mike Alonzo (CAS–Environmental Science), […]
[Article] What’s radical? Comparing how climate activists and the general public perceive social [...]
October 28, 2025
CECE
A team from CECE has published a paper in Environmental Research Letters that compares perspectives about social movement tactics between climate activists and the general public. Read the abstract below and and Click here to read the article. As the climate crisis worsens, activists have employed a wide range of tactics to draw attention to […]
CECE Team Surveys NoKings Day 2.0 Participants in Washington D.C.
October 23, 2025
CECE
On October 18th, a coalition of left-leaning political groups coordinated a second national day-of-action to declare that the US has no kings. Almost 3,000 events took place across the US during NoKings Day 2.0 with early estimates predicting that over 5 million people had joined the day of action in the US (with many more […]