Key takeaway from the Environmental Fellows Program: “The workshops were an amazing space to share and reflect on my and other Fellows’ experiences as biracial environmentalists. I’ve never been in a space before with so many others like me.”
Spotlight
Growing a Grassroots Movement for a Just Transition
Liam Gunn — ’21 MEM
“I wanted my internship to focus on grassroots environmental justice, and WE ACT in New York City is one of more prominent groups in the U.S. They’re working on building a coalition of environmental justice leaders; for a while, I’ve felt there needs to be a network for leaders of grassroots environmental justice groups. Grassroots is hard, and being able to share resources, skills, and knowledge will help build out the movement.”
Hometown: Southern California
Fellowship Host: WE ACT for Environmental Justice
Next Step: Attending law school
“There was never a specific moment — I’ve just always wanted to work in environmentalism since I was little. Over time, my interest has turned to people-focused environmentalism; in particular, I’ve focused my studies on economics and environmental law and policy, hoping to combine all of that with environmental justice to create a just transition.
“With WE ACT, I was an energy justice research fellow, and the main project I worked on was researching any equity concerns about carbon capture and storage. With emerging technologies — for example, pipelines that carry liquid CO2 underground — we need to make sure that, if we scale them up, we identify safety and equity concerns and address them in a way that works for all people."
