Are you a mentor excited by the prospect of working with and building programs for college students who are looking to make a difference in the world? Do you have a passion for connecting your work to environmental and social justice issues? Apply today to be the next EarthLab Student Lead!
Who we are:
EarthLab is an institute that is reimagining how academia can respond to the climate crisis. Our visionary approach connects the University of Washington’s world-class research capabilities with communities from around the globe to create novel, equitable and scalable climate change solutions. We’ve got big ideas for the future, which you can learn more about in our strategic plan. This will give you a solid understanding of our vision, mission and goals for the next several years. We think it’s worth perusing to help you better understand what we do.
Still with us? Great! Now here’s what we’re looking for:
EarthLab is seeking a full-time Student Program Lead to manage and grow our Student Experience Program.
This is a unique opportunity to expand EarthLab’s connection to and support of University of Washington students, in addition to supporting existing programming as well as designing new programming for students.
The Student Program Lead will support EarthLab summer internships within our member organizations and partners. The EarthLab internship program is a robust, cohort-based paid internship program for University of Washington undergraduate students who want to develop interdisciplinary, applied research and community engagement skills and build capacity to address issues at the intersection of climate change and social justice.
Now a little bit about you:
In order to thrive in this unique role, we’re hoping that you have a passion for mentoring and engaging students. We want you to own the program coordination and bring your own creative ideas to how we can more fully engage students at the intersection of climate change and social justice. You will also have the opportunity to develop training sessions on professional development, build relationships across EarthLab and its member organizations, and plan and host activities to enhance the internship cohort bonding experience. In addition to the summer internships, you will develop new academic year programming for UW undergraduate students. Reporting to the Manager of EarthLab Programs, you’ll have many opportunities to both collaboratively develop and independently manage the day-to-day operations of EarthLab’s Student Experience Programs.
Salary range:
$6000 – $6800 per month
The culture you’ll be joining:
We acknowledge the systemic racism that exists in the environmental sector and within environmentalism at large. At EarthLab, we believe every member on our team enriches our diversity by exposing us to a broad range of ways to understand and engage with the world, identify challenges, and to discover, design and deliver solutions. If you are committed to helping us create an equitable, diverse and inclusive work environment where all voices are considered and valued, we want to hear from you.
This year’s theme is Black Resistance: Sustaining, fortifying and respecting Black life.
The Movement
Black History Month came to us from Black historian, author and scholar Carter G. Woodson. Born in 1875 to illiterate parents who were formerly enslaved, he eventually became the second Black American to receive a PhD in History from Harvard University before joining the faculty at Howard University.
Despite his accomplishments, Woodson was barred from participating in American Historical Association conferences (even though he was a dues-paying member). According to the NAACP, this was part of Woodson’s realization that the white-dominated historical profession had “overlooked, ignored and even suppressed” African American contributions.
In 1926, Woodson created Negro History Week to promote and educate people about Black history and culture. This took place during the second week of February, coinciding with the birthdays of Frederick Douglass (a leader of the abolitionist movement) and Abraham Lincoln (for issuing the Emancipation Proclamation).
In 1976, the movement was officially recognized by President Ford as the month-long observance we celebrate today.
There is no American history without African American history.” – Sara Clarke Kaplan, Executive Director of the Antiracist Research & Policy Center at American University in Washington, D.C.
Today’s Moment
At EarthLab, we center equity and justice into our vision of the future, which means we must never forget the past in our thoughts because they influence our actions in the present.
We recognize that global events like COVID-19 and extreme weather disasters driven by climate change have worsened historical and current harm in addition to structural inequities, particularly towards Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) communities. We believe sustainable environmental solutions come with the reckoning of this knowledge.
This month, we invite you to listen, learn, watch, support, and be in community with Black Resistance through resources and opportunities at UW and our community, some of which we’ve put together below!
Because it helps us to remember, there is no more powerful force than a people steeped in their history.”- Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III, Smithsonian Institution
Listen & Learn
UW Libraries Racial Justice Lib Guide
This is a starting point for students and faculty seeking to better understand issues related to racial justice and racism in America and includes a broad range of sources including current news, TED Talks, podcasts, social media and more.
This is a resource for anyone who wants to learn more about Seattle’s rich cultural heritage, including museums, historic sites, public art and neighborhoods that will give you an insider’s view of Seattle’s vibrant ethnic communities and unique history.
This event recording features Leah reading an excerpt from her new book, “The Intersectional Environmentalist: How to Dismantle Systems of Oppression to Protect People + Planet,” and a Q&A session with the audience.
Find a Black-owned business to support this month (and every month) by searching Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle’s directory of 100+ local businesses!
The UW Black Opportunity Fund invests in services and programs for health and academic success, including but not limited to Black student organizations, Graduate Opportunities and Minority Achievement Program GO-MAP, Brotherhood Initiative, Sisterhood Initiative and the Women’s Center.
Black History Month Research and Writing Workshops | February 15, 2023, 3 – 6 pm
The Northwest African American Museum is partnering with UW Libraries’ Special Collections to offer a Research and Writing Workshops in February for Black History Month. The Research and Writing Workshops will be held in person on February 15, 2023 at the UW Special Collections Classrooms.
Northwest African American Museum Keynote Program | Thursday, February 16, 2023, 6 – 7:30 pm
Join us as we celebrate Black History Month. NAAM will hold an in-person riveting conversation with Dr. Damion Thomas, Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture Curator of Sports. Be inspired, informed, and ignited for action.
A Proud Heritage: An African American Family History Event | February 25, 2023, 9 am – 2 pm, Tacoma Family History Center
For African Americans, finding your ancestors can be especially challenging. To celebrate Black History Month, the Tacoma Family History Center is hosting a FREE genealogy workshop designed specifically for individuals with African American ancestry.
Are you a relationship builder looking to build a world where people and our planet thrive? Do you get excited thinking about a career that grounds equity and justice within environmental research and action? Apply today to be EarthLab’s first-ever Community Partnerships Lead!
Who we are:
EarthLab is an institute that is reimagining how academia can respond to the climate crisis. Our visionary approach connects the University of Washington’s world-class research capabilities with communities from around the globe to create novel, equitable and scalable climate change solutions. We’ve got big ideas for the future, which you can learn more about in our strategic plan. This will give you a solid understanding of our vision, mission and goals for the next several years. We think it’s worth perusing to help you better understand what we do.
Still with us? Great! Now here’s what we’re looking for:
The EarthLab Community Partnerships Lead is a new role that will build on initial efforts to support a critical aspect of EarthLab’s strategy: to activate, leverage, and sustain cross-boundary relationships.
In this role, you will proactively engage with a broad and diverse range of stakeholders, both across the broader community and with University of Washington faculty, students, and staff. You will work closely with EarthLab teams and partners to increase awareness of EarthLab’s activities and relevant issues, actively participate in forums and coalitions on behalf of the organization, mobilize community participation in EarthLab programming, organize UW participation in community programming and events, and facilitate the development of trusted relationships with partners at the UW and in the broader community. Additionally, you’ll be a resource for EarthLab member organizations to support their community engagement goals.
Now a little bit about you:
In order to thrive in this unique role, we’re hoping that you enjoy thinking about how to build bridges between people, ideas and systems that reside at the intersection of climate and social justice. We want you to champion community priorities and interests through the cultivation of authentic, trusting relationships with community stakeholders, EarthLab member organizations, and the broader UW, including faculty, researchers and students. Reporting to the Communication and Engagement Manager, you’ll work closely with our communications, programs & advancement leads to develop offerings that deepen and broaden our relationships.
Salary range:
$6,200-$6,800 per month
The culture you’ll be joining:
We acknowledge the systemic racism that exists in the environmental sector and within environmentalism at large. At EarthLab, we believe every member on our team enriches our diversity by exposing us to a broad range of ways to understand and engage with the world, identify challenges, and to discover, design and deliver solutions. If you are committed to helping us create an equitable, diverse and inclusive work environment where all voices are considered and valued, we want to hear from you.
Another new year brings new possibilities for climate action. While significant progress in policy and practices are taking shape around us, there is still a long way to go to diversify and scale solutions in order to meet the Sustainable Development Goals and other critical climate targets.
Rather than thinking in purely technical, policy, or financial solutions, I am thinking a lot about the need to change our collective mindset about how we meet the demands of the moment. Changing mindsets is multifaceted, but two aspects I am particularly curious about for the new year are: the need to rethink our openness to taking risks on new ideas and how we need to reimagine the diversity of talent of the workforce that is going to deliver on our ambitions for climate action.
Expanding what is possible
It is fantastic that more entrants from all sectors are beginning to grasp the enormity of the climate challenge, with talk of adopting new forms of energy, shifting systems of accountability and transparency, and bringing more voices to the table. And yet, rather than seeking to understand the potential in the new actors and new solutions, many are quick to shoot down ideas simply because they are unfamiliar, untested, or imperfect. An example of this backlash is the criticism for the calls for performance rankings of ESG funds, to better understand how our investment decisions are connected to a low-carbon economy. While there are good questions being asked about how we measure the data, let’s not reject the core idea that improved transparency on performance and the consequences of our endeavors is vitally important.
In 2023, let’s explore before we reject. Let’s open our minds and our hearts and invest in new collaborations that grow our shared understanding of what is possible. Let’s take more chances in unconventional ideas, because the conventional ones aren’t going to get us there alone.
Preparing the workforce that delivers on 2050 targets
As we endeavor to meet the plethora of goals that have been established between now and 2050, we need to also think about the workforce that is going to do it! Growing and diversifying our workforce is a key component to scaling climate change solutions, and this goes far beyond creating more “green jobs.”
Yes, we need to exponentially grow the number of people working to decarbonize transportation, energy, and buildings, but every sector and community will be affected by the impacts of climate change. The bigger story is that every one of us will need to learn how to mitigate and adapt our roles and organizations to collectively reduce greenhouse gasses and increase resilience. This is not an emerging sector, but instead a systemic transformation that will affect all jobs in all sectors, all over the world.
The question then becomes, who will be leading us through this transition and what skills, support and training do they need? We know that communities on the front lines of climate change that are hit first and worst are usually communities of color and lower income. What can we do to increase opportunities for and the benefits of taking action on climate for these communities? Key components of our success in meeting the challenge of this moment are growing workforce capacity to understand how climate is affecting our jobs and increasing the representation from communities most affected by climate change into said workforce.
Oh the places you’ll go– after graduation! We caught up with CHanGE alum Nathaniel Matthews-Trigg, Department of Global Health 2017 graduate and current Affiliate Instructor in the Department of Environmental and Health Sciences (DEOHS), to learn more about his work moving climate and health policy forward in New Mexico.
Q: Can you share a bit about your background, your involvement with CHanGE and your current role?
Nate: I graduated in December 2017 with a Master’s in Public Health from the UW Department of Global Health (DGH) and a Graduate Certificate in Climate Change and Health (GCeCCH) from the Center for Health and the Global Environment (CHanGE). I was the first student to graduate from the GCeCCH program, which I credit for shaping my career trajectory and climate activism.
In 2018, I began working in both traditional municipal and healthcare emergency management in the Puget Sound region, utilizing my climate and health research background to support local and regional emergency preparedness and response activities. In January 2020, I joined DEOHS as an affiliate instructor to support collaboration between the research community and local emergency management. In 2021, I moved back to New Mexico, where I grew up, and became involved in local environmental justice and public health activism.
Q: Tell us more about how you became involved in climate and health policy in New Mexico.
Nate: When I moved back, I joined the New Mexico Public Health Association and New Mexico Association of Emergency Management Professionals. Throughout the fall of 2021, I scheduled informational interviews with local leaders and community organizers to understand the climate and health work being done in the state. I learned that organizations and state agencies were overwhelmingly focused on climate mitigation—reducing emissions—New Mexico is the second largest crude-oil-producing state in the country behind Texas. There were few efforts focusing on climate adaptation—the interventions necessary to prevent or reduce current and future impacts to human health and well-being.
I was invited to speak to the New Mexico Department of Health’s Health Infrastructure Task Force in December 2021, a body set up to identify public health priorities for the state. DEOHS and DGH Professor Kristie Ebi presented on the scientific connection between climate change and health. I advocated for the creation of a climate and health program within the New Mexico Department of Health, a successful model in many other states across the country. However, due to competing priorities and political challenges, we realized that we would have to do more than simply talking about the need for adaptation with leaders.
Then in the summer of 2022, New Mexico experienced the worst wildfires in the state’s history. Over 1% of the total area of the state burned, tens of thousands were evacuated in a single day, and most of the state was blanketed in toxic smoke. New Mexico was featured prominently in national media stories as a case study in how climate change is driving increased fire behavior. This woke up many decision-makers to the urgent need for climate and health adaptation in New Mexico to protect the most vulnerable individuals and communities.
This renewed sense of urgency, in combination with continued conversations with state leaders and organizations, allowed us to home in on a strategy for advancing meaningful adaptation work. We began building a coalition of groups, with many of them graciously dedicating time and resources to advance this important cause.
In October 2022, I was invited to speak to the New Mexico Legislative Health and Human Services Committee, to kick off our call for legislation to create a climate and health program and establish a large fund to pay for adaptation work. Our coalition is excited for 2023, when the bill will be brought in front of state legislators to be debated and decided upon.
Q: What are the essential ingredients to developing a successful climate and health policy campaign?
Nate: Firstly, it’s important to have a clear and concise idea about what your community needs, and how your policy will address these needs. Be prepared to talk at great lengths about it or give a one-minute elevator pitch on the idea. It’s key to dentify your allies and work toward creating a coalition to help develop your policy and strategy moving forward.
Next, you need to agitate, educate and organize to build community support for what you are doing and/or get meaningful feedback and input. If legislation is the best strategy to address your community’s needs, seek out people and organizations that have experience doing this. Luckily, there are many great public health and environmental organizations that do policy work and could be great resources. As your policy campaign advances, you want to continue building its momentum.This could include organizing actions, strategic communications (op-eds, social media, etc.) and other ways to get people engaged and excited about supporting your policy.
Ultimately, prepare for the long game. Many bills do not pass when they are first introduced. Pace yourself and have realistic expectations; this is a marathon, not a sprint.
Q: Who are you partnering with in New Mexico to move the legislation forward?
Nate: We have a rapidly growing coalition, composed mostly of environmental, public health, and healthcare organizations.
Q: Were there any unforeseen challenges? Any unexpected positive outcomes?
Nate: I did not anticipate the longer timescale of the process. A year after we began this journey, the interest has snowballed. We went from meetings with just a couple people volunteering their time, to having half a dozen large organizations supporting us with paid staff and communications.
There were many unexpected positive benefits: I was able to learn how policy moves from just an idea to a solidified bill. I built relationships with amazing activists and organizations from across New Mexico, and learned about other exciting environmental opportunities on the horizon.
Q: Do you have any advice for students looking to be involved in local climate and health policy?
Nate: There is an incredible need for motivated individuals to support policy that helps those most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. It is critically important to draft policy that is equitable, inclusive and engages the public throughout the development process.
As public health practitioners, we can often bring an important perspective to environmental justice policy that helps connect the dots between environmental harms and human health. Reaching out to groups advancing important environmental policy and volunteering your time can go a long way.
To get started, I recommend getting involved in your local professional associations, such as your state’s chapter of the American Public Health Association. Professional associations often have committees where you can participate and meet others with similar policy interests. I would also encourage students to reach out to environmental groups and start making connections and conversations that can turn into meaningful coalitions, actions and policies.
