Energy Resources & Access

Mica Caine is the co-founder of Helix, a circular fashion marketplace focused on keeping clothing, care, and stories in motion within local communities. A Central Ohio native, Mica’s work is deeply rooted in place and relationships, spanning circular economy, community-led climate resilience, and decentralized energy systems.

Malika Kounkourou serves as a managing editor of the Harvard Environmental Law Review and is a research assistant at the Harvard Environmental and Energy Law Program. Her interests lie at the intersection of alternative dispute resolution systems, corporate accountability, and climate justice, with a focus on extractive industry governance.

Jonisha Aubain researches the design, construction, and techno-economic analysis of tidal energy technology for application in isolated island communities. Her goal is to increase technical opportunity for enhancing local energy systems with emphasis on community involvement and independence.

Sarah Sarfaty Epstein is interested in landscape-scale climate resilience decision making in California’s agricultural sector, particularly at the agriculture-energy-water nexus. Her current research uses geospatial analysis to create decision support tools at the groundwater basin level. Born and raised in the East Bay, she is proud to call California home.

Sanjana is an engineer, environmental justice researcher, and systems thinker working at the intersection of infrastructure, climate, and technology. She is a PhD student at MIT, where her research focuses on renewable energy, energy justice, and the electric grid. She is the co-founder of Rooted Futures Lab, a research and action collective advancing environmental justice in technology, and Earth Hacks, a nonprofit harnessing hackathons as a form of climate action. Her work has ranged from atmospheric science software engineering at NASA to passing decarbonization policy at the local level. She holds a BS in electrical engineering and physics, and a Master’s in City Planning from MIT.

Emily studies community wealth building in immigrant & BIPOC communities through economic and climate justice, and is working with the City of Boston on community-based participatory action research and worker cooperative ecosystems.

Nicole explores the intersection of affordable housing and climate equity, including building energy retrofit strategies that can reduce energy burden, prevent displacement, and target climate investments to low-income communities of color.