Implementation Grant: A Cultural, Learning, and Institutional Model to Accelerate Transformations for Environmental Justice (CLIMATE Justice)

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Effective and equitable solutions to climate change will require a diverse and culturally competent geoscience workforce with a solid foundation in Earth system science, strong technical skills, and transdisciplinary expertise. To address this need, researchers at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) will work across disciplines to develop a Cultural, Learning, and Institutional Model to Accelerate Transformations for Environmental Justice (CLIMATE Justice). The primary goal of the CLIMATE Justice initiative is to transform the culture of the geosciences through building a learning ecosystem that brings on-the-ground challenges of environmental justice and sustainability into the heart of geoscience research and education. The project will approach climate change research in a holistic way that brings together multiple communities and addresses climate impacts and solutions, as well as social and environmental justice, systemic racism, and knowledge imperialism that discounts different ways of knowing. Program activities will center on training diverse cohorts of postbaccalaureate and PhD student fellows in core climate and geoscience skills, as well as community-engaged research and environmental justice. The cross-disciplinary experience with knowledge co-production gained through this project will uniquely position the participants to serve as agents of change in their careers, whether in academia or other fields. The project will have broad impacts for education, workforce development, broadening participation, and building capacity for addressing climate change. It will improve the culture, effectiveness, and economic benefits of geoscience research by creating a model for institutional change that emphasizes community engagement to tackle pressing environmental problems. The CLIMATE Justice initiative will mobilize a cultural shift in the geosciences through a place-based approach that situates UCI’s global-scale climate research in a local community context. The specific project objectives are to: 1) Train and empower postbaccalaureate and PhD students from historically marginalized communities to pursue graduate education and careers related to climate change, 2) Increase participation of scientists from traditional STEM disciplines in environmental justice and community-engaged research, 3) Build strong cross-disciplinary collaborations between geoscientists and experts from other fields, such as social science, 4) Develop equitable partnerships with community-based organizations, and 5) Transform the culture of geoscience by building a learning ecosystem that spans traditional institutional, disciplinary, and hierarchical boundaries. CLIMATE Justice Fellows will co-develop research projects with community-based organizations focused on addressing climate change and environmental justice in Southern California. Through culturally aware mentorship and authentic community-engaged research experiences, underrepresented minorities and members of other marginalized communities will build scientific identities and a sense of belonging, increasing the diversity of people entering geoscience careers within and outside academia. Through its research and capacity-building goals, this project will have broad impacts for communities dealing with the impacts of climate and environmental change. Furthermore, it will provide a model for transforming the intellectual focus, research culture, and inclusiveness of academic geoscience departments across the United States and beyond.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.