Leverage Points for Climate Change Action             Senior Fellowship

A parable exists of eight blind elders who encounter an elephant for the first time: each touches one part of its body, and makes assumptions about the animal’s appearance. In reality, none of these elders are right alone, but together they form a complete answer to their question.

My “elephant” is: how can we move society forward on reducing climate change, enacting the policies needed to stay below greenhouse gas emissions thresholds predicted to cause irreparable harm to the environment and civilization? I am not the first person to ask this question, but as a budding climate scientist, a policymaker-in-training, and a youth climate justice organizer, its weight is constantly on my mind. Because I am immersed in worlds that look at climate change in markedly different ways, I am acutely aware that scientists, policymakers, and social movement organizations all hold a piece of the solution to this issue, yet none of these groups can produce solutions alone.

I will be spending the final year of my undergraduate career pursuing a Senior Fellowship. The Fellowship, a unique program at Dartmouth that allows seniors to pursue a yearlong project in the place of traditional classes, offers students the chance to delve deeply into a particular topic. I will be studying this intersection of scientists, policymakers, and community organizers as it relates to climate change action – more specifically, barriers to renewable energy. I will be interviewing and engaging in participant observation within local Arctic communities and international Arctic policy processes, as well as within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21). Throughout my year of work, I seek “Leverage Points” for climate progress (for more about the Leverage Points approach, click here). As my research progresses, I’ll share any insights on this blog.

This Senior Fellowship is supported by the Office of Undergraduate Advising and Research  and the Penelope W. and E. Roe Stamps IV Award at Dartmouth.

Primary Advisor: Dr. Ross A. Virginia (Environmental Studies)

Secondary Advisors: Dr. Marc D. Dixon (Sociology), Dr. Richard B. Howarth (Environmental Studies)